Second Film- Animal Awareness

Despite the fact that some people believe that animals are not aware of the world around them, or other creatures that exist alongside them, there are plenty of instances where animals have come through for humans without needing to be trained to do it.

The gorrilla at the beginning of the film we saw last class is one example. Instead of ignoring the hurt child, or attacking, the silver-back kept the others of his family unit away from the boy, and touched him gently.
There have been similar instances at zoos were primates have actually cradled injured children that have fallen into their enclosures. Dogs have rescued people, cats I'm sure have done the same in their own way, if only by alerting owners to danger.

Are these not instances of animal awareness beyond simple stimuli (fear, pain, hunger)? The film raised plenty of questions, but I never got the sense that any of them were answered.