Australia is seeing an unprecedented mothering at their Monarto Zoo in Adelaide. When their beloved chimpanzee Soona died giving birth, the rest of the chimps banded together to take in her orphan, Boon, according to The Daily Mail.
The new adoptive mother is Zombi, who is pregnant herself.
When Soona passed on Friday, her newborn was healthy and is strong, thanks to his new adoptive mommy, Zombi, who remained by her friend Soona's side while she gave birth and subsequently died, before taking over duties as mother for little Boon, according to Menafn.
The unusual - in fact never been seen before - behavior is stumping zoo officials who are happy for Boon to have such good care under Zombi's mothering.
Laura Hanley, senior primate keeper at the zoo, said it is unheard of for a chimp to taking over surrogate so close to the birth of her own
"I'm humbled by what we've seen from the chimpanzee troop over the last few days - it's unheard of to see a heavily pregnant chimpanzee adopt an orphaned newborn infant," Hanley said. "The unique situation certainly reinforces the strong bond our chimps share and the similarities these amazing creatures have with their closest living relative, us."
"From the minute she [Zombi] first cradled the newborn, she's been amazing - grooming, supporting and nursing the little man as though he was her own," Hanley added, according to Yahoo.
Zombi is due to give birth within the upcoming few weeks, and zoo officials are eager to see if she will continue to care for Boon along with her own baby.
"Zombi's a confident and capable mum, and has the support of an amazing chimp troop," Hanley continued. "We can't completely predict the outcome, but know if any chimp can look after two infants at once, Zombi can."
"When the time comes for her to have her own infant, we'll let nature take its course and only intervene if Zombi appears to be struggling or if the infants require supplementary feeding." Hadley added.
