{"id":1699,"date":"2026-02-08T16:04:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T16:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/?p=1699"},"modified":"2026-02-08T16:04:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T16:04:33","slug":"zookeepers-refuse-to-save-drowning-chimpanzee-then-a-truck-driver-breaks-into-his-cage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/?p=1699","title":{"rendered":"Zookeepers refuse to save drowning chimpanzee \u2013 then a truck driver breaks into his cage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"93\" data-end=\"244\">We don\u2019t think wild animals belong in zoos\u2014chimpanzees, for example, should live freely. No matter the space or care, they\u2019re better off in the wild.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"246\" data-end=\"337\">That said, this rescue video is incredible. A man ignored zoo rules to save a chimpanzee.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"339\" data-end=\"522\">In 1990, at the Detroit Zoo, a chimp named Jo-Jo fell into a moat after being chased by a more aggressive chimp. Panicking, he struggled in the water as about 10 spectators watched.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"524\" data-end=\"769\">Rick Swope, 33, a truck driver visiting with his family, jumped in despite the danger\u2014chimpanzees are up to five times stronger than humans, and other chimps were nearby. Rick lost Jo-Jo underwater once but managed to rescue the 200-pound ape.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"771\" data-end=\"818\">Jo-Jo survived, and Rick\u2019s bravery saved him.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"820\" data-end=\"891\">\u201cHe was looking at me. I think he knew what was going on,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"893\" data-end=\"917\">Watch the rescue here:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-inbaddningshanterare wp-block-embed-inbaddningshanterare wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rll-youtube-player\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eqbclCNRiPo\" data-id=\"eqbclCNRiPo\" data-query=\"feature=oembed\" data-alt=\"Untamed and Uncut - Chimp Rescue\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eqbclCNRiPo?autoplay=1&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>We don\u2019t think wild animals belong in zoos\u2014chimpanzees, for example, should live freely. No matter the space or care, they\u2019re better off in the wild. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/?p=1699\" title=\"Zookeepers refuse to save drowning chimpanzee \u2013 then a truck driver breaks into his cage\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1701,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1699\/revisions\/1701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viralspotlight26.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}