Kind chimpanzee returns visitor's stolen selfie stick

The one sign that is impossible to miss at any zoo is the one that warns you against feeding the animals. Getting too close to animals is not advised, no matter how great the picture of you handing a monkey a banana will look in your camera roll. It's not worth it, especially since many animals behave in unpredictable ways when they come into contact with humans. 

But sometimes that unexpected behaviour can be quite wholesome and endearing. In the case of a visitor to China's Qinghuangdao Wild Animals Zoo, a chimpanzee became an ally during what could be described as a robbery. 

A video which begins shortly after the zoogoer in question loses their selfie stick to a chimpanzee shows the animal's mate making an effort to set things right. Having witnessed his companion taking the selfie stick out of a bystander's hands and pulling into the cage, supposedly to play with it or destroy it, the second chimpanzee approaches the scene. 

With a brief look at the would-be thief, the second chimpanzee grabs the selfie stick and pushes it back out towards the aggrieved zoogoer. Who would have taught the kind animal that stealing is wrong?

The crowd was stunned. The chimpanzee's behaviour is proof once again that the similarities between the lives of humans and life in the animal kingdom far outweigh the differences.

It is also, perhaps, a warning about getting too close to a cage with a selfie stick you might still want to keep at the end of your visit... 


Image: Video Break