A day at the zoo is full of all kinds of fascinating things to watch and observe, but perhaps nothing is so riveting as watching apes and monkeys go about their day in suspiciously human-like ways.
They are our closest ancestors after all, and every now and they do something that is so "they're just like us!" it kind of blows your mind—as TikToker CaShawna Wright can attest.
Wright, who goes by the username @cashinthecity on the app, has gone viral for her video showing the way an organutan at the Los Angeles Zoo jumped into quick-thinking action to retrieve her baby's bottle when he dropped it near the ape's enclosure.
The little orange guy did basically what any of us would have done in the same circumstances, and it's got people online feeling awed by nature.
See the video below.
@cashinthecity Eventful day at the #lazoo #losangeleszoo #zooouting #orangutans #primates #motherhood #momlifebelike #boymom
The incident happened during an outing to the zoo on February 17.
Wright and her son Cruze were trying to find their way out of the zoo when Wright realized they'd missed the primate exhibit, so they headed over to the orangutans for one last look.
Cruze got so excited by the organutans he dropped his bottle onto the ground, and it rolled into a pool of water adjacent to the orangutans' enclosure.
Wright called the zoo's office for help, but the ape got right to work first, using a piece of litter to create a current in the water that made the bottle drift closer to its reach.
Speaking to Yahoo Life, Wright said the wonder of the moment reminded her of her father, who passed away a few months ago.
“I didn’t expect what happened next. I was thinking in my mind, oh my gosh, this is something my dad would love to see. So, I started recording.”
Before long, the organutan's gambit had worked—he got to the bottle before the zoo's employees could and got to work sampling the tasty treat inside Cruze's bottle.
In a follow-up video, Wright detailed that the bottle contained diluted juice, and that she has since found out that the orangutan was not harmed by its sample of Cruze's beverage.
@cashinthecity Visit TikTok to discover videos!
And in another video, Wright mentioned how awestruck she was by the way the orangutan seemed to have outsmarted the zoo staff.
@cashinthecity Replying to @snowywhite205
On social media, people were just as awestruck by the ape's resourcefulness as Wright was.
\u201c@ABC7 This is evolution in real time. Tool making\u2026\u201d— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7 Eyewitness News) 1677091048
\u201c@ABC7 man, i was reading somewhere that primates are at the " caveman " stage in evolution\u201d— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7 Eyewitness News) 1677091048
\u201c@ABC7 Better than I could do!\u201d— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7 Eyewitness News) 1677091048
\u201c@ABC7 Today the bottle, tomorrow the planet.\u201d— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7 Eyewitness News) 1677091048
\u201cThose mfs are human cause nah\u201d— Ichigo Niggasake (@Ichigo Niggasake) 1676885959
\u201c@SomaKazima As smart as we think primates are, they\u2019re smarter.\u201d— Ichigo Niggasake (@Ichigo Niggasake) 1676885959
\u201c@SomaKazima I mean we share over 90% of our DNA..\u201d— Ichigo Niggasake (@Ichigo Niggasake) 1676885959
\u201cAnimals are smarter than you think!! \u2022 @foxla An orangutan at the Los Angeles Zoo got creative to receive a baby bottle dropped into a pool of water by a toddler. watch what happens next.\u201d— Rob Cardella (@Rob Cardella) 1677102556
\u201cA very clever and experienced Orangutan fashioned a tool and worked hard to retrieve a baby bottle that was dropped in a pool of water at the Los Angeles Zoo. \n\nVery impressive..\u2728\ud83d\udc9c\u201d— BIG DAVE (@BIG DAVE) 1677175599
Guess it's only a matter of time before Planet Of The Apes becomes real-life, huh?
@GavinNewsom/X
