To begin with, we do not believe that zoos should house wild animals. For instance, it is appropriate to permit chimpanzees to live freely.
Regardless of the amount of room they get to roam and the quality of their care, they still thrive in the wild.
However, we couldn’t resist showing you this rescue footage. It shows a man putting himself in danger to save a chimpanzee, despite the zoo’s warning warnings and regulations.
We refer to that as heroism.
In 1990, a chimpanzee named Jo-Jo fell into a man-made moat in the Detroit Zoo’s chimpanzee exhibit. After being pursued by a more hostile monkey, he was able to scale the fence that was meant to keep him out of the water.
Trying to keep his head above water, Jo-Jo panicked. Meanwhile, ten or so horrified onlookers saw him die in the water.
Truck driver Rick Swope, 33, was among them; he was accompanied by his wife and three kids. Knowing that he had to do action when he saw the fear on Jo-Jo’s face, he dove into the sea to save the giant ape.
Keep in mind that chimps can outstretch humans by a factor of five. In addition, there were several other chimps in the enclosure who might have acted aggressively at any moment, and the monkey was in a section blocked off to tourists.
Rick didn’t think twice, though. Upon pulling Jo-Jo from the river and onto the dry land, his family looked on in amazement. It was also not the simplest thing to do.
At one point, Rick lost Jo-Jo’s grip and vanished beneath the water. However, Rick was eventually successful in saving the 18-year-old, 200-pound (90 kg) chimpanzee after another effort.
Jo-Jo was not well, but he was still alive, as he emerged from the water. Rick had come to his rescue.
He had me in his sights. He was aware of what was happening, I believe,” Rick told the Chicago Tribune.
Click here to see the heroic rescue:
Kindly spread the word about this film to honor the truck driver’s incredible bravery!
