Reunions between lost babies and their mothers are always heart-warming, but a recent story about an orangutan mother and the reunification of her own baby provokes emotions that cross over to different animal species.
Such is the story between an orangutan mother, Clara, and her own baby named Clarita.
Recently, a television show called the Orangutan School posted a video showing how the whole reunion went down.
According to reports, baby Clarita was kidnapped from her mother by a male-dominant orangutan in the Borneo jungle, located in central Indonesia.
As if this weren’t heart-breaking enough, it took nearly a week before Clara was reunited with her baby again. This was all thanks to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
Still, the reunion after the long seven days didn’t immediately transpire into a happy ending like you might see in a movie.
As the Orangutan School noted, a baby orangutan that has been separated from her mother can risk rejection. This all has to do with the baby’s smell.
In Clarita’s case, if she were to smell different than she did at birth, Clara might have rejected the poor orangutan as one that wasn’t her own.
Such a rejection stems from a mother orangutan’s inability to recognize her own baby, and not a disownment.
Thankfully though, Clara did accept Clarita back into her life.
Thanks to careful reintroduction methods conducted by Borneo’s crew, Clara was able to touch Clarita through her cage and soon gave signals of recognition.
Soon after, the crew then transferred Clarita to her mother, who then began breastfeeding the hungry baby orangutan.
The reunion between Clara and baby Clarita brought joy and relief after a long seven days of separation.
Next, both mother and baby will finish the rehabilitation process to get them ready for another transition: back into the wild.