Who says brotherly love only applies to the human race? A pair of brother gorillas surprised staff at Longleat Safari Park  in England, as they embraced each other after being  apart for two years.

Kesho and his younger brother Alf were separated after the elder sibling was sent to London Zoo as part of a breeding programme.

The  gorillas shook each others hands and hugged after being reunited, also appearing to share a joke .

Despite Kesho appearing almost unrecognisable, with his weight ballooning to 200lbs, head gorilla keeper Mark Tye said Alf had no problem recognising his sibling.

‘We weren’t entirely sure that the brothers would even know each other, but the moment they met you could just see the recognition in their eyes,’ he said.

‘They were touching each other through the cage that temporarily separated them and there were no acts of aggression.We put them together 24 hours later and it was like they had never been apart.”

Mr. Tye said that the two brothers were playing with each other and said it was ‘quite unusual to see that sort of childlike behaviour’  with that particular breed of gorilla.

Kesho was recently moved to the new £3m enclosure after his attempts to father a baby gorilla were unsuccessful due to him being infertile.

‘They have formed a really tight bond and Kesho is actually incredibly tolerant,’ added Mr Tye.

‘Had they been two strangers there would have been a lot of face-to-face confrontation and some fighting and screaming. But Kesho and Alf were happy to turn their backs on one another which is a sign of trust. It is great for Alf to have an older brother to look up to and learn from and Kesho seems to enjoy being the centre of attention. It was very satisfying to see.’

The pair will spend the rest of their days in their enclosure which was set up due to the large amount of males in the current European breeding programme.