This is the beautiful moment two gorilla brothers are reunited after nearly three years apart. The two primates have been separated as one of them was sent to another zoo as part of a breeding programme. Now they met again at the Longleat Safari Park in the UK, and they appear to enjoy each and every moment of their reunion.
Staff at the zoo initially feared the two siblings won’t recognize each other, but the moment the two have met surprised everyone. The heartwarming moment was caught on camera and shows Kesho and his younger brother, Alf hugging and shaking hands like they have missed so much to each other. At same point the two brothers even seems to share a joke!
“We weren’t entirely sure that the brothers would even know each other, but the moment they met you could just see the recognition in their eyes,” said Mark Tye, the gorillas keeper. “They were very animated and there was a lot of rough and tumble on the floor.”
The unlikely moment came as a surprise, because this sort of moments are very uncommon among the silverback gorillas. Territorial animals, gorilla males are extremely aggressive with each other, even though they are part of the same family.
“It is quite unusual to see that sort of childlike behaviour in a silverback,” said Tye. “It is great for Alf to have an older brother to look up to and learn from and Kesho seems to enjoy being the centre of attention. It was very satisfying to see.”
Watch the adorable moment here:
