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Viral video of a chimpanzee reuniting with her newborn is making people cry happy tears

Pair separated temporarily after the birth due to complications

Baby chimpanzee (not the same chimpanzee from the article)

A mother chimp and her baby are going viral after Sedgwick County Zoo posted a video of the pair to Facebook on Thursday.

Mahale the chimp gave birth via emergency C-section after natural labor stopped progressing, zoo officials said.

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Her baby wasn’t breathing well so zoo staff had to keep him at the veterinary hospital for two days before he could be reunited with Mahale.

Zoo officials recorded the reunion on video and Mahale’s reaction to seeing her newborn is causing some happy tears based on people’s comments on the video.

Mahale can be seen walking into a room with a white blanket. Her newborn is in a blue blanket in the middle of the room but Mahale doesn’t see him at first.

The baby chimp then sticks his hand up out of the blanket and Mahale rushes to pick him up and cuddle him as soon as she sees his hand.

The two embrace as Mahale kisses her baby’s head.

Zookeepers at the Wichita, Kansas area zoo revealed in a second post that the young chimp was subsequently named Kucheza (koo-CHAY-zuh), which means “play” in Swahili.


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