It's a story of brotherly love.
Alf and Kesho, two lowland Gorilla brothers, were recently reunited at a safari park in England after being separated for three years, according to The Telegraph.
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And, as the pictures below show, the two apes wasted no time getting reacquainted. According to the Mirror, Kesho, 13, and Alf, 9, recognized each other right away, hugging and shaking hands when they saw one another.
Kesho and Alf, who now weigh 485 pounds and 242 pounds, respectively, were born at Dublin Zoo, the BBC reports, but became separated when Kesho was taken to another zoo to breed.
The two brothers are now joined by their youngest brother, Evindi, 6, at Longleat Safari and Adventure Park in Wiltshire, England, where they live with one other gorilla at the park's new $4.72 million Gorilla Colony.
“The keepers from Dublin weren’t entirely sure the brothers would even know each other, but the moment they met you could just see the recognition in their eyes,” Mark Tye, the keeper at Longleat said, according to a statement from the safari park. “We had been slightly concerned how they would react to each other and whether the big brother could put up with little Alf’s playfulness."
"What you're seeing is exactly what you think you're seeing," Ian Redmond, the founder and chairman of the Ape Alliance said, according to the BBC. "Two intelligent social mammals, who were separate, are pleased to see each other again and play together.
"It is gorilla joy, being reunited with someone you used to have good times with and now you can again, so it's gorilla happiness," he added.
Western lowland gorillas, which are native to central Africa, are classified as "Critically Endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Major threats to the population include hunting and the Ebola virus, according to the IUNC.
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