Warning: this video of a gorilla mom and human mom showing each other their babies is unbelievably cute.
When new mom Emmily Austin decided to take her five-month-old son Canyon to the Franklin Zoo in Boston, she likely had no idea she would end up connecting with a gorilla over the shared bond of motherhood.
Austin, who visited the zoo a few weeks ago, visited the gorilla enclosure with her sleeping infant son and said that Kiki the gorilla immediately noticed them as they looked on. Kiki would not stop staring at them.
“It was so sweet,” Austin told the News Center Maine. “For well over five minutes, she just sat there watching [Canyon], just staring at him, just so lovingly. Her face was just so in love.”
Kiki eventually signaled for them to come over to her through the glass and when Austin held Canyon up to the glass, Kiki lovingly stared at the newborn for several minutes before revealing she had recently had a baby boy of her own named Pablo.
Kiki eventually brought Pablo over to the glass and the two moms got to show off their little ones to each other, as they both held their newborns in their arms.
“When I walked into the zoo that day, I never could’ve imagined that we’d have this experience,” she said. “It was so beautiful and we walked out over the moon. And we had so many people stop us and tell us that was the most beautiful thing we’ve ever watched. And it was so touching, it really was. You could feel the emotions were just in the air.”
The experience must have been amazing — and likely drove home just how strong the bond is between us and some of our closest animal relatives.
Austin admitted that Canyon slept through most of the interaction but thankfully, her husband Michael caught the entire interaction on camera and uploaded the video on YouTube over the weekend.
One day, when Canyon is older, he can watch the video of a gorilla adoringly doting over him, as well as hearing the surrounding crowd audibly have their hearts melted every time Kiki put her hand up to the glass.
