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A zookeeper has gone viral after sharing the adorable moment the gorillas she looks after met her new charge—her baby daughter.
After 10 weeks on maternity leave, Mary Kate Findlay took her newborn to visit the gorillas at her zoo.
The gorillas' varying reactions to the baby, held up to the glass for them to see, have amassed a collective 31 million views on TikTok.
In Findlay's first video, which has been watched more than 28 million times, she approached the enclosure window with baby in arm, sitting down to catch the eye of a gorilla. At first, he appeared uninterested, turning his head away, but after a moment readjusted himself to get a better look.
As the mom moved so the baby was facing the gorilla, he stared intently at the infant and angled his head towards her, not looking away.
@maitekate The sweetest boy meeting my sweet baby for the first time #newborn #baby #momlife #workingmom #gorilla #zookeeper #maternityleave #fyp
♬ Send Me on My Way - Guy Meets Girl
@maitekate Thank you Phil Collins for the perfect soundtrack #fyp #gorilla #newborn #zookeeper #workingmom #baby
♬ Strangers Like Me - Knightsbridge
A follow-up video showed Findlay saying goodbye to the gorilla, as he turned his head away and appeared disgruntled at her departure.
Another young gorilla in the enclosure had an even more intense reaction to Findlay's baby, immediately making her way over to the glass upon spotting the child. The 3-year-old ape sat and stared at the baby in Findlay's arms—and even lent her arm up against the glass and appeared to give a kiss to the zookeeper through it.
The ape's little brother—described by Findlay as the "baby of the troop"—wasn't so happy with the attention being lavished on the human child, however, and ran over to hit his older sister.
@maitekate 10 weeks into maternity leave, and she immediately comes over to meet the baby and give her zookeeper a kiss #newborn #gorilla #fyp #workingmom #baby
♬ Time Machine - Muni Long
@maitekate Someone’s not the littlest baby in my world anymore… #fyp #gorilla #newborn #zookeeper #workingmom #baby #maternityleave
♬ Oh No - Kreepa
The videos have melted hearts online, as viewers marvel at the interactions between the apes and the humans. "This is so sweet," wrote one TikTok user.
Research has found that gorillas use a form of baby-talk when communicating with their infants, just like humans do. Older gorillas used touch and repeated gestures, such as grabbing or stroking the infant's jaw, more often than when communicating with their peers.
Even older male gorillas are known to care for the young, with studies finding that it actually boosts their mating success rate. A 2018 study found that male gorillas that look after younger ones, even those that are not their own, are more likely to have more offspring.
That's not to say that interactions between human children and fully grown gorillas would be the same, despite what The Jungle Book might have taught you. In 2016, a gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo was shot dead by zookeepers after a child got into the enclosure. Although many who saw the viral footage of the incident believed Harambe did not pose a risk to the 3-year-old boy, primate experts defended the zookeepers' decision, saying they had no choice.
In 1996, a female gorilla at Brookfield Zoo in Illinois saved the life of a 3-year-old boy who fell into her enclosure. Binti-Jua picked up the toddler and carried him to the doorway, laying him at the feet of paramedics.
Update 03/02/2022 11:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add Mary Kate Findlay's surname.
