Most zoos take good care of their animals and help them if they are in trouble. This time, however, the workers at the Detroit Zoo had no intention of rescuing a drowning chimpanzee.

Fortunately, one of the visitors, a truck driver, took matters into his own hands. He quickly climbed over the railing and rushed to the moat in the monkey enclosure.

Rick Swope decided that day to go to the Detroit Zoo with his wife and kids. They especially wanted to see the newly built chimpanzee enclosure.

On the way there, they were already looking forward to a pleasant spectacle, intending to observe the life of monkeys enjoying an enclosure with as close as possible to the natural habitat for chimpanzees.

At that time, a game began in the enclosure, which gradually developed into a fight. Two chimpanzees began to fight each other near the water.

One of them Jo-jo was much smaller than his rival and therefore decided to run away and hide among the trees.

But the other monkey did not want to be left behind. Jo-Jo attempted to jump to safety, but ended up in the water instead, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Chimpanzees can’t swim, so Jojo is in mortal danger. He himself could not swim to the edge of the ditch. Visitors to the enclosure watched in horror, waiting for intervention from the zoo workers.

Zookeepers, however, limited themselves to forbidding Rick to enter the enclosure. Fortunately,

he did not listen to them and jumped into the water to save the drowning chimpanzee. With the help of

his legs and free hand, he managed to pull Jo-Jo to the shore, and after that they both made it to land.

Rick said that Jo-Jo was very peaceful, unlike the other chimpanzee, who bared his teeth and began to approach them, running down the slope. Rick quickly ran out of the enclosure.

The director of the zoo, in an interview with reporters from The Chicago Tribune, said that Rick turned out

to be so modest that he was only embarrassed by the attention to his person after he committed this heroic deed.