In fairness to King Kong, if I had a tiny adorable primate in my hand I would also be very resistant to someone taking it away from me.
We all assume it was romantic, but maybe when King Kong looked at her he was seeing this:
Something like this really happened a couple of years ago at the Mefou Primate Sanctuary in Cameroon, run by Ape Action Africa (AAA). A western lowland gorilla named Bobo befriended a bushbaby for a couple of hours before releasing it back into the forest.
According to AAA’s Facebook post (where you can also find additional photos and video):
Our silverback gorilla Bobo made a surprising new friend this week – a wild bushbaby! Caregivers discovered him cradling the tiny primate during their morning checks, and were amazed to see him handling it with the utmost care – proving that gorillas really are the gentle giants of the forest. Bobo’s group-mates were desperately curious, particularly his favourite female Avishag, but he kept them all at a distance, making sure that no one disturbed his new friend. Bushbabies are usually nocturnal so it is very rare to see one, and even rarer to witness this kind of interaction. The little bushbaby was happy to play in Bobo’s arms, hopping off to explore the grass nearby, before returning to Bobo’s hand. When the game was over, Bobo walked purposefully off on two legs to deliver his friend safely back into the trees.
Incidentally, the western lowland gorilla (which has the best species name of all time: Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is the largest primate in Cameroon, and the bushbabies happen to be the smallest primates in Cameroon.
