Baboon adopts bush baby - story and pics

[Kadie]

Orphans have to stick together: Perhaps because she was abandoned by her mother, this 6-month-old baboon has a strong maternal drive. She's raising a bush baby - also abandoned by its parents - at the animal orphanage at Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters in Nairobi.
Photo: Khalil Senosi / AP (sfgate.com)

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More pics from daylife.com



A seven-months-old yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) drinks milk as it plays with a Galagos (L) also known as a bushbaby at the Animal Orphanage in the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) headquarters in Nairobi, June 10, 2011. Defying nature, the Yellow Baboon, rescued in Maralal (northern Kenya) has quickly adopted a Galagos, rescued in Nyeri (central Kenya), after meeting at the orphanage giving it affection and protection as if it were her own offspring. Yellow baboons inhabits savannas and light forests in the eastern Africa while Galagos are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa.


A three-months-old Galagos also known as a bushbaby and a seven-months-old yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) share a bowl of milk at the Animal Orphanage in the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) headquarters in Nairobi, June 10, 2011. Defying nature, the Yellow Baboon, rescued in Maralal (northern Kenya) has quickly adopted a Galagos, rescued in Nyeri (central Kenya), after meeting at the orphanage giving it affection and protection as if it were her own offspring. Yellow baboons inhabits savannas and light forests in the eastern Africa while Galagos are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa.


A seven-months-old yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) carries a Galagos also known as a bushbaby at the Animal Orphanage in the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) headquarters in Nairobi, June 10, 2011. Defying nature, the Yellow Baboon, rescued in Maralal (northern Kenya) has quickly adopted a Galagos, rescued in Nyeri (central Kenya), after meeting at the orphanage giving it affection and protection as if it were her own offspring. Yellow baboons inhabits savannas and light forests in the eastern Africa while Galagos are small, nocturnal primates native to continental Africa.








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Baboon adopts bush baby

By Sahra Abdi
NAIROBI | Mon Jun 13, 2011 1:36pm EDT

(Reuters) - Clinging to the under-belly of a baboon, Gakii, a 3-month-old orphaned bush baby has plumped for an unlikely surrogate-mother.

In the grounds of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage, the duo cavort around in each others' arms, drink milk out of the same bowl and poke mischievously at a Reuters television camera.

"This is not normal. It has not happened here and I guess it has not happened anywhere else," said Edward Kariuki, a warden at the animal home in the Kenyan capital.

Kenya, however, has a history of unlikely cases of fostering among orphaned animals.

In 2004, a giant tortoise adopted and became an inseparable friend to a baby hippo washed out to sea off the coast of Kenya in the aftermath of the southeast Asia Tsunami. The pair became an Internet sensation.

more...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/13/us-kenya-wildlife-adoption-idUSTRE7593QA20110613?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews

[The Blue Flower]

1. I thought Barbara was his real mother

Oh, wait, just saw the pics.

[Scuba]

15. +1

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

25. HOLY SHIT!

:spray:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. The lack of a smirk gives it away.

[Fuddnik]

31. "I'm going to love him, and hug him, and call him George"!

Old cartoon quote.

[femmocrat]

2. Awwww.... they are so sweet, especially in that top photo. n/t

[xchrom]

3. Love is a funny thing. Nt

[sasha031]

4. so cute awww

:)

[KittyWampus]

5. LOVE!

[ellenfl]

10. but they'll never be allowed to marry. eom

[MuseRider]

6. Long ago I was a zookeeper.

I took care of both Galagos and Baboons (Mandarins to be specific). They are both awesome animals. Many people just don't know how intelligent and loving all animals are, they just do things differently than we do sometimes. This is beautiful, thanks.

[femrap]

8. Personally I think animals are

smarter than most humans.

I love animals and the people who love them. I keep my distance from those who don't.

[Maru Kitteh]

9. Agree - the intelligence and the emotional capabilities of animals are incredible.

[femrap]

7. Too cute! nt

[valerief]

11. Great pics! nt

[suffragette]

12. Sweet pics!

K&R

[emilyg]

13. Thanks.

[midnight]

14. What a lovely example of caring.

[malaise]

16. Lovely

You really find great pics :hi:

[BR_Parkway]

17. I was really expecting to see this:

[jwirr]

18. Now if we humans could just take some lessons from these baboons

and turtles we might have a better world.

[NYC_SKP]

20. +1

I was just about to post that thought exactly.

GMTA!

:P

[woo me with science]

19. I love that smile in the fourth picture!

Great story and pictures. Thanks!

[snagglepuss]

21. That is so adorable and fascinating. Thank you so much for posting.

:)

[Corruption Winz]

22. My nephew saw the adorable photo with the bottle and now he's hungry again. Thanks, DU. n/t

[tblue37]

23. Very precious--but the idea that her own LACK of a mother led her to develop

unusually strong maternal impulses is silly.

Most animals need a mother to model maternal behavior on, or else when they have their own offspring they don't have a clue how to do that mothering thing.

This was just a very sweet and lucky anomaly.

[Dappleganger]

27. Not true...

mothering is innate (in their DNA) with most mammals (obviously not all).

[Enthusiast]

28. It started even before mammals

We can see it in crocodilians as the mother gently carries her new hatchlings back to the water in her mouth. I think we can safely assume dinosaur mothers were similar in protecting their offspring.

[Dappleganger]

30. Yes...

but the person above me was contesting that mothering has to be modeled by the animals parents to learn how to do it.

Nope, not at all.

[ceile]

24. That is amazing...

Animals never cease to amaze me.

[catbyte]

29. Awwwwwwww, thanks!

[sulphurdunn]

32. "If you can't love

the one you want, love the one you're with" Crosby, Stills and Nash.

[MilesColtrane]

33. Greatest Page?

I mean it's cute and all, but...

What's next LOLCats?

:shrug:

[zoosareprisons]

34. Great story. Rec and kick. n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

35. If only Republicans were as evolved as baboons, the world would be a better place

[joeybee12]

36. A BIG KNR for these two cuties!

[nichomachus]

37. I thought of a hundred jokes before I even opened this n/t

[badgerpup]

38. I guess we (meaning animals) ARE wired to nurture and love...

...and often the wiring allows for inclusion of those outside our own species.
That makes me feel more hopeful about things in general...



A lot of cats and dogs with human staff would agree with me on this one...:P

[roamer65]

39. Dammit...I thought a Bu$h child had rec'd a better parent.

But the story is nonetheless heartwarming. Interesting how animals often care for one another more than we humans.

[Botany]

40. Animals can love

Last night my son .... 16 .... came to spend the summer w/ me .... divorced dad ..... his dog, a black lab, was so happy to see
"his boy" that he took one of his socks and hopped up on the bed next to him this early AM he was so ready to go and play w/
"his boy" that he picked up his buddy's sock when I walked into the room and was there for about 2 hours waiting for him to
wake up and go play.

[Snoutport]

41. These cute animal posts always sucker me in

It is nice they have each other. :0)

[octothorpe]

42. I always find these stories interesting. Do these situations happen often in the wild?

I've only heard of them happening in some sort of controlled environment.

[Anakin Skywalker]

44. Yes. Unusual and not often, but it does happen!

Some time ago, there was a female lion that adopted an antelope baby. That was in the wild.

[zanana1]

43. I misinterpreted the title of that thread...

Can you blame me?

[JNelson6563]

45. Humans could learn a lot from animals.

:toast:

[Beacool]

46. What a heartwarming story.

Animals don't get the respect that they deserve.

:-)