It was love at first sight when Mahale the chimpanzee got her first glimpse of her baby two days after having a caesarean at Sedgwick County Zoo, in Kansas.
Mahale paused for a moment to take him in, then reached out to embrace her newborn the moment he held out a hand to her.
Staff at the zoo noticed that Mahale was having a difficult labour, so decided to intervene on Tuesday , the zoo said on its Facebook page.
The infant called Kucheza - meaning 'play' in Swahili - initially had some trouble breathing, so medics looked after him for two days, the zoo added.
It was love at first sight when Mahale the chimpanzee got her first glimpse of her baby two days after having a caesarean at Sedgwick County Zoo, in Kansas | https://t.co/8WrZGqIthF pic.twitter.com/mSIhlcKJe6
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 19, 2022
