When a young boy falls into its enclosure, this gorilla's reaction stuns everyone

Back in 1986, in an English zoo, a 5-year-old child fell into the gorilla enclosure as visitors watched on in horror. But what happened next left them all speechless.

Protecting the boy

The dominant male, weighing over 30 stone, approaches the child, who was lying still on the ground. Against all odds, the gorilla protects the little boy.

He even goes to hug him and drives the other apes away from him. A few minutes later, rescuers intervened to hoist the boy out of the enclosure and he escaped with only some minor injuries from the fall.

About gorillas

Silverback gorillas typically live in larger groups and are usually led by a designated alpha, as the community possesses a somewhat sophisticated social hierarchy.

Gorillas are known to be highly intelligent animals and can effectively communicate with each other using vocalisations and facial expressions. Some have even learned to interact with humans using sign language.

Adult males can be over 6 times stronger than an average human male adult. Let alone this poor child that fell into his cage, luckily for him, this alpha did not seem to want to harm the child.

Check out the unbelievable footage of the gorilla protecting the boy above!