Binti Jua facts for kids

Binti Jua (born March 17, 1988) is a female western lowland gorilla. She lives at the Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois, near Chicago, United States. Binti Jua became famous in 1996. This happened after she helped a three-year-old boy who fell into her home at the zoo.

Her name, Binti Jua, means "Daughter of Sunshine" in the Swahili language. She is the niece of Koko, another famous gorilla. Koko was known for her ability to use sign language. Binti's mother, Lulu, came from the Bronx Zoo. Her father, Sunshine, was from the San Francisco Zoo.

Binti Jua's Family

Binti Jua has two children. Her daughter is named Koola. Koola's father was a wild-born silverback gorilla named Abe. Binti also has a son named Bakari. His father was another wild-born silverback named Ramar. Ramar was once trained to do circus stunts.

Bakari now lives at the Saint Louis Zoo. He lives there with his half-brother, Nadaya. Binti has three granddaughters. Kamba was born to Koola and Ramar. Nora and Ali were born to Koola and another silverback named JoJo. Binti also has a great-grandson named Zachary, who is Kamba's son.

The Day She Became a Hero

On August 16, 1996, Binti Jua was eight years old. A three-year-old boy climbed over a wall at the gorilla exhibit. He then fell 24 feet (about 7.3 meters) into the gorilla area. The boy broke his hand and had a big cut on his face.

Binti Jua walked over to the boy, who was not moving. People watching were screaming. Binti gently picked up the child. She held him carefully. Then she carried him to a door that led to her indoor area. Her own baby, Koola, who was 17 months old, was holding onto Binti's back the whole time.

The boy stayed in the hospital for four days. He got completely better. Binti Jua became famous around the world for what she did. For many months, zoo staff gave her special treats. Visitors also paid her a lot of attention.

What We Learned from Binti

After this event, experts talked about why Binti acted the way she did. Some wondered if it was because of her training. Binti was raised by humans, not by her gorilla mother. This meant she had special training to care for her own baby. She was also trained to bring her baby to staff for check-ups.

Other experts, like primatologist Frans de Waal, thought Binti showed empathy. Empathy means understanding and sharing the feelings of others. They believe Binti felt the boy needed help.

There are other stories of animals helping others. These actions are sometimes called animal altruism. This means helping someone else without expecting anything in return. For example, a male gorilla named Jambo at Jersey Zoo also protected a child. This child had fallen into his enclosure. Jambo was not trained to care for children. He was raised by his own gorilla mother. His actions might have been an instinct to help. Similar helpful behavior has been seen in chimpanzees. They often comfort each other after a scary event.

See also

• Harambe
• Jambo
• List of individual apes