While there might be a lot of separation between “other” animals and humans, there are often more things that we share in common than are different. For one family visiting gorillas at the zoo, that common thread was motherhood.
Motherhood is one of the universal things that nearly all mammals (humans included) understand intimately.
Whether it’s a mama bear taking care of her cubs or a human baby learning to walk, babies are universal and our love for them is unmatched. There is a certain sense of connection that a human mother of three has watching a mama dog try and corral her pups into the living room for dinner. The mama struggle is real and universal!
That became super apparent recently at a zoo in Boston.
Emmelina Austin and her family decided to take a day trip to visit the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Massachusetts. Emmelina and her husband were taking their 1-month-old son, Canyon, to the zoo for the first time. Their experience was life-changing.
While near the gorilla exhibit, the family saw a resident gorilla named Kiki.
Kiki was behind the glass with her own baby, a 7-month-old boy named Pablo! Watching the gorillas through the glass sparked something within the couple as they realized that motherhood wasn’t just a human thing, it was universal.
“My wife mentioned that she felt like she could understand their bond and could see how much she cared for Pablo, since she is a mother now herself,” Michael Austin
With that in mind, Emmelina walked up to the glass and tried to show her son to Kiki.
Kiki was on the other side of the enclosure but seemed to be intrigued by what Emmelina was showing her! Then, all of a sudden, Kiki grabbed Pablo, her own son, and the two of them came over to the glass where the humans were watching.
“My wife held up our son to show to Kiki, who was on the other side of the enclosure … then Kiki grabbed Pablo and put him on her leg to carry him over to us.”
The next moments were unique in a way that only mothers can fully appreciate.
Kiki looked at the little baby and seemed to understand that Emmelina was showing off her own kid! When Kiki noticed that, she pulled her own son up and showed him to Emmelina.
“[Kiki] was talking to us with her hands,” Michael said. “Pablo even pushed his face up to the glass at one point and they watched him, noses touching, together. My wife and I both had tears in our eyes.”
The moment between Kiki and Emmelina shows just how intelligent animals really are.
It’s easy to forget the intelligence of animals, especially with how removed humans seem from them. It’s always important to remember, however, that humans aren’t just some random, different, creature here on earth – we are animals too! As this video shows, we have a connection point with some of our closest relatives on earth – motherhood.
Check out the video below!
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