Golden Ape. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The gorilla called Bokito made headlines in 2007 when it reportedly escaped from its enclosure in the Netherlands and attacked a woman, leaving her with hundreds of bite wounds.

Before the attack, the woman regularly visited Bokito, taking flowers and food for it.

"Bites were a way for Bokito to show his love. Maybe he wanted her to join his group of females," says Roet.

According to the artist, Bokito was being raised by a zookeeper in an apartment in Berlin after he was abandoned at birth, when the artist made friends with it.

Roet later spoke to the wounded woman's husband about his wife's love for the gorilla and learned that he thought it was better than loving a man.

Roet says that sometimes the apes' ways of expressing things are different from humans, but in many instances they are very similar.