Orangutan Rescues a Drowning Baby Chick in Heartwarming Video

A 12-year-old Bornean orangutan named Jorong became a viral sensation this week when video surfaced of him rescuing a seemingly injured moorhen chick from drowning in a pond inside his enclosure. The four-minute long, one-ape, one-leaf rescue effort took place at the Dublin Zoo in Ireland sometime before 2008 when Jorong was moved to a zoo in Western England as part of an international breeding program.

Said a zoo spokesperson:

“He had a lovely nature, was always a little inquisitive and very gentle which you can tell from the clip. During his time in Dublin he fathered a female orangutan named Mujur, who still lives in Dublin Zoo with the zoo’s group of Bornean orangutans.”

Watch Jorong come to the rescue below:

[Irish Times]