Daughter of Sunshine

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The baby gorilla was born in the zoo. Her mother, Lulu, could not produce enough milk to adequately feed her, so the zoo keepers stepped in. They worked in shifts to hold the two- month-old ape in their arms around the clock, imitating the way real gorilla mothers take care of their young. The baby thrived
and grew to be an exceptionally loving and gentle creature. The
keepers named her Binti Jua, which means "daughter of sunshine"
in Swahili.
Since Binti Jua was born in captivity, she was content with
the life of a zoo gorilla, climbing the trees in her enclosure
and playing happily with the other gorillas.
There was an old male gorilla living at the zoo, a large
silverback, who had never shown any interest in fathering any
offspring. Something about Binti Jua appealed to the elder ape
and when Binti was six, she became pregnant.
The zoo keepers were concerned that because the young
gorilla hadn't had any maternal role models, she might not be
fully prepared to mother her own young. So they gave her
lessons. They used a stuffed animal as a baby substitute and
taught her to put the "baby" to her breast and to hold the
"baby" constantly, the way gorillas do in the wild.
She was a good student and when her daughter, Koola, was
born, Binti Jua was the perfect mom. This combination of
natural motherliness and her comfort with humans would later
make her an internationally celebrated heroine.
One day, when Koola was about a year-and-a-half-old, Binti
Jua was in her outdoor enclosure, holding and grooming her baby
as usual. The zoo visitors were all enjoying the sight of the
gorillas, when suddenly a little three-year-old boy who had been
playing along the barrier of the enclosure toppled over the edge
and fell over twenty feet to the concrete floor below.
There was a sickening thud, and the little boy's hysterical
mother began screaming for help.
Immediately, Binti Jua, still holding Koola, made her way
over to the unconscious child. The watching crowd gasped in
horror. Unconsciously, people tend to associate gorillas with
the movie monster King Kong. What would the huge ape do to the
little boy?
First the mother gorilla lifted the boy's arms, as if
checking for signs of life. Then, gently, she picked him up and
held him tenderly to her chest. Rocking him softly as she
walked, she carried him over to the door the zoo keepers always
used to enter and exit the enclosure. When another larger
female gorilla approached her, Binti Jua made a guttural sound,
warning the other gorilla to stay away. By this time, the door
was open and the keepers were there with the paramedics, who had
been called to rescue the injured boy. The gorilla carefully
placed the boy on the floor in front of the door, and the
paramedics whisked the child away. When the door closed again,
Binti Jua calmly walked back to her tree and began grooming her
own baby once more.
The people watching were stunned. The event would have
been dramatic enough without the role of the heroine being
filled by a gorilla. And Binti Jua was the best type of
heroine, not caring for either fame or reward.
The boy recovered without any lasting harm resulting from
his adventure. And the world was moved by Binti Jua's good
deed; letters and gifts came pouring in for her from all over
the world. She even received a medal from the American Legion
and an honorary membership in a California PTA.
Acting from her heart, Binti Jua did what any mother would
do: She protected and helped a child. But this gorilla didn't
care that the child was of another species. She showed the
qualities we humans hold most dear - love and compassion for
all.

By Carol Kline Copyright © 1998

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