- Dec 8, 2013
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Mama, a former matriarch of a colony of chimps at Royal Burgers Zoo in Holland, was refusing food from keepers until being visited by professor Jan van Hooff, whom she had known since 1972.
The 59-year-old ape, who had been unresponsive and curled up in a ball, reacted with joy after recognising the professor. Appearing to smile, she touched his face, held the back of his neck and brought his head down to hers.
Mr van Hooff, a professor in behavioural biology at Utrecht University, co-founded Mama’s chimp colony – the first ever to be raised in a zoo - in the 1970s.
She was born in the wild, but became known as the “grand lady” of her colony due to her dominant nature.
A dying chimp was unresponsive and refusing food. Then she bumped into an old friend
Unreal sadness, and yet ends with a happy moment. She began eating again, which is very interesting.