Mothers want to hold their babies after their birth.
All those months of carrying that precious child always led to that emotional first meeting.
However, there are instances when mothers won’t get to experience this.
There are babies born that need immediate intensive care, and it would take days for the mother to hold her child for the first time.
Animals are not exempt from that either.
Those who give birth to their young that seem weak or have any disability are instantly parted with their baby to give it a chance of survival.
They’ll indeed be reunited one day, but we can all imagine the agony of waiting.
Mahale is a mother chimpanzee who had not seen her baby after giving birth.
The mother chimp was rescued and resided in Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, Missouri.
Her pregnancy was much awaited and celebrated worldwide, but it wasn’t always that way.
The beginning left some doubts with the zoo’s keepers, especially on the first day.
They had to do an emergency C-section on Mahale because the natural labor stopped progressing.
The medical team was deciding what was best for the mama chimp and her baby, and while they were able to take the baby out of her womb safely, it was another heart-stopping moment when they realized that the baby wasn’t breathing well on his own.
The team brought the baby chimp to the hospital to get immediate care.
They named the baby Kucheza, and he recovered quickly after almost two full days.
They brought him into the enclosure to rest as they prepared to reunite him and Mahale.
He was bundled in a blue blanket as they waited for his mother to arrive.
Mahale entered the enclosure and looked at the bundle in front of her.
At first, she looked shocked and in disbelief. She probably thought that her baby didn’t make it.
But the moment she saw Kucheza’s tiny hand rise from the blue bundle, it was the most heartwarming scene ever.
She grabbed him in her arms, stripping away the blanket and embracing her little one tight.
You can feel the love of this mother chimpanzee toward her baby.
She hugged and kissed him multiple times, and you can feel her joy with their reunion.
It’s incredible to witness how emotional and expressive mother chimpanzees are toward their young.
This is one maternal behavior that Dr. Jane Goodall witnessed during her research.
She witnessed how female chimpanzees are very affectionate, patient, and loving, affecting how she treated her children.
Even those chimpanzees who only acted as foster mothers emulated this same attitude towards their foster baby chimps.
That love and affection were something that Mahale showed throughout Kucheza’s short life.
Unfortunately, the baby chimp didn’t make it long, surviving only five weeks after birth. T
he zookeepers were shocked to see him lifeless inside their enclosure but in his mother’s arms.
She was still cradling him until the very last day and was not ready to part with him.
What an incredible, albeit heartbreaking, display of a mother’s love.
Here’s a quick throwback of their viral reunion video to feel Mahale’s love for her son Kucheza.
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