In a world with 8.7 million animals, it can be easy to mostly notice our differences. But recently, while visiting Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, a mom on vacation had a powerful moment with a female orangutan that she'll never forget — a moment that reminded her (and thousands of people across the internet) that we're not so different after all.
While on a "mini-break" this week with her partner and son, Gemma Copeland spent the day at Schönbrunn Zoo, ending with a stop to see the orangutans.
In a Facebook post shared on Thursday, Copeland wrote that the primates were "happily playing in the enclosure" when she went to take a closer look.
The viewing room of the exhibit features a glass window that separates visitors from the animals, so Copeland sat down in front of it with her son to marvel at the female orangutans standing less than 10 feet away.
That's when something kind of incredible happened.
An orangutan "got up, carried a piece of cloth to the window and sat down with me," Copeland wrote in her Facebook post. "She looked directly into my eyes then placed her hand up as if to touch my son I was in awe of this beautiful creature already."
At that very moment, Copeland's son let her know he was hungry, and noticing that there weren't many people around them, she began to breastfeed him. It was an instinctual moment she thought little of — until the animal in front of her began to react.
"The way the orangutan reacted took my breath away she kept looking at me, then my son then back again," Copeland wrote.
"She sat with me for approximately half an hour, kept stroking the glass, and lay down next to me as if to support and protect me."
It was an incredible moment, shared between mothers. And for a few minutes, it were as though they were both human.
Truth be told, humans and orangutans are actually not so different.
Both belong to the same family of organisms known as Hominidae, along with chimpanzees and gorillas. Although science has long told us that we're most similar to chimps, some more recent (and controversial) studies have actually suggested it's orangutans humans are closer to.
Copeland said she felt called to share her story because her "mind was blown."
"We may be a species apart but breastfeeding connected us today in a once in a lifetime moment that will stay with me forever," she wrote. "I'm also incredibly lucky that my partner caught all of this on video."
She certainly is.
Since sharing the story on the pro-breastfeeding Facebook page Boobie Babies, the post has been shared far and wide. To date, it's racked up more than 36K shares and 55K reactions.
The comments are almost as meaningful as the post itself.
"I wonder if the orangutan felt the need to protect and keep watch," one woman wondered aloud. "In the wild, a nursing mother would be vulnerable, since her attention is on the baby and not fully aware of her surroundings. It just makes me think that in many different animal groups, the common practice is for the others to surround and guard a baby."
That certainly puts a whole new perspective on the story, doesn't it?
Another woman shared her own story of something similar that happened to her at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska:
"I was taking my then 4-month-old, [who] by this time he was starting to fuss and was needing to be fed. You'd think by my fourth breastfed child I'd be totally comfortable nursing in public, but not the case. I was nervously trying to find any open spot with at least semi privacy. No luck at this point … Then out of nowhere this beautiful mama comes strolling right up to me by the glass looks me in the eye and begins to nurse her babe! I swear she had a sense about my situation. Getting encouragement no matter the species feels amazing."
"There’s definitely a connection with all animals," another woman wrote. "I went to Flamingoland Zoo and stood watching a lion. It came towards the glass that I had my hand on and it rubbed its head against it as if I was stroking him. It was the best feeling ever."
Indeed, this mother's story is a heartfelt reminder of how connected we all are in the animal kingdom as well as how natural breastfeeding and a mother's love for her baby is.
