In a moment’s notice, life can be turned upside down with no guarantees for a happy future. Orangutan mom Clara was loving life on an island with her baby girl Clarita.
At the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation sanctuary in the jungle of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, this mom and baby are able to live freely without fear of poachers harming them and other orangutans — or worse.
Little did Clara know that something else on the island had become a threat to her baby girls’ well being.
One day, a dominant male snatched up baby Clarita and took off with her. Clara was heartbroken at the loss of her little girl!
When the workers at the sanctuary realized that Clarita had disappeared, they searched everywhere for her baby. They couldn’t believe that one of the males, 14-year-old Rizki, had taken her.
“The techs managed to safely retrieve Clarita, found that she was suffering from malnutrition and immediately took her to the clinic for intensive care. Soon after, Clara was returned to Nyaru Menteng to be reunited with Clarita.”
Because Clarita had been separated from her mom, she was unable to nurse and her health had begun to fade during the time she was kidnapped. Thankfully, clinic workers were able to revive the baby orangutan and guide her back to health.
But Clarita had to stay at the clinic for a week while Clara was being treated elsewhere for a painful rash. Everyone was very worried about how the pair would feel when they were reintroduced.
There was a chance that Clara wouldn’t recognize her own baby by scent after that week. If that happened, she would ultimately reject her baby and jeopardize Clarita’s already fragile health.
“When the mothers reject the babies, sometimes they just let them starve. They don’t want to give them milk.”
The televised show Orangutan Jungle School captured the moment when Clarita was reintroduced to Clara. A worker slowly approached Clara’s cage, clutching baby Clarita, talking to Clara the entire time.
Everyone held their breath, waiting…
Suddenly, Clara must have realized that the baby before her really truly was her daughter. She reached through the slates of the cage toward her daughter to make sure it is really her.
Once park staff was confident that Clara wouldn’t do anything adverse to Clarita, they handed her the baby. She showered her daughter with love and nuzzles and miraculously, Clarita latched on to nurse! Clara actually seemed to cry.
The workers were thrilled at the reunion, too. Some were weepy at what they were seeing.
Once both of them were healthy enough, they were released back into the sanctuary.
“I cannot say it in words, it’s so beautiful. [Clara’s] like, ‘oh it’s my baby!’ And Clarita was like, ‘oh it’s my mother, finally I can see her again after a long time.’ It was one of my best moments when I worked here, to see the mother and daughter reunited.”
See for yourself how sweet this exchange between a reunited momma and her baby really is. You might grow a bit weepy, too.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
