Mother Burst Into Tears When She Saw How This Female Orangutan Reacted To Her Baby

Of all the animals, monkeys are genetically the closest to humans. This similarity is proved, not only by their genetic make-up, which is almost identical to that of humans but also by the way they behave.

Whether they are mourning their offspring, protecting another creature or in deep despair after losing their habitat, their behaviour never ceases to amaze humans.

‘The most surreal moment of my life that had me in tears’

Take this young British mother who took a little trip to the Vienna Zoo with her family for example. Since there weren’t a lot of people there that day, Gemma Copeland made the most of the peacefulness to sit with her baby in front of the window of the orangutan enclosure.

After just a few minutes, something unbelievable happened. The female orangutan who lived in the enclosure was about 1m 80 away from her, as the mother explained on Facebook. When the monkey saw the mother and child at the window, she immediately got up and approached them where she then sat next to her visitors.

A memorable encounter

Gemma Copeland wrote about this encounter on her Facebook page.

‘She looked directly into my eyes then placed her hand up as if to touch my son.’ The mother and son were both equally impressed and watched the female orangutan in awe.

But then, Gemma’s little boy got hungry and started screaming for food. The Brit decided to breastfeed her child right there since she wasn’t quite ready to leave her new orangutan friend. And this led to a different situation arising and the orangutan looked curiously between both the mother and son. Copeland explained:

‘She sat with me for approximately half an hour, kept stroking the glass and lay down next to me as if to support and protect me.’

The young mother was very moved by this extraordinary encounter and as a result, she has started raising money to fund an international animal rescue organisation.