Reunion videos make me cry!

First, we had Christian the Lion. It was a video that went viral on youtube a while ago. I actually watched the documentary on Animal Planet. I have it saved on my DVR. The two men that raised Christian bought him at Herrod's Department Store in London sometime in the 70's and released him into the wild in Africa after they realized that London wasn't a good place to keep a full grown lion. Someone posted the reunion video with Aerosmith's song, "Don't Want to Miss a Thing," but I've also seen it with Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" playing in the background. To see that grown lion bound toward his former owners and lick and paw at them makes me cry every time I see it.

Then today, I was introduced to Kwibi. Kwibi is a gorilla that was released into the wild at age 5. Five years later, his former owner went back to Gabon, West Africa to reunite with his dear friend. This video chronicling the reunion made me smile. What struck me was not only the fact that Kwibi responded to a call from Damian as he drifted in a boat down the river, but that he introduced Damian to his new family!

The fact two different potentially dangerous animals were able to recognize their past owners is amazing to me. To me, it clearly shows the bonds that we make with the animals in our care. I think it also demonstrates how intelligent these animals are as well.