Some animals speak to me more than others. When my daughter was a tiny, I sat with her on the sofa a lot. I remember seeing a mother and infant orang utan on television and being overwhelmed with the understanding of our sameness. That she was me. Our babies were each others babies. Baby orangs look so human, act so like human babies. When I see them I see my children.
At the zoo I went to see the mother orangutan and her newish baby. a group of people were trying to see it, and she had her back turned to them, protectively. I started talking to her, across the moat, and she looked up and looked straight into my eyes, and turned to me and showed me her baby.
The current BBC programme is worth a watch. Wednesdays at 8. Not least for the sweetie babies, or the evidence of how like us they are. They're our cousins, and they deserve space in the world.
Not being orphaned and chained and caged, left alone in the dark to go crazy with grief and fear. Check out the episode previews. Think about adopting a baby, or donating...
I'd like to put up more photos but I cant choose just one...
