To be a mother

If there is any living being that is an example of extraordinary and dedicated mother to her children, the mother chimpanzee comes first. There is no species on the planet that take care of their baby for four years as the mother chimpanzee. She breastfeeds, carries them from one place to another, either on her chest or on her back, and follows their first steps outside the maternal lap.

In Sorocaba Sanctuary we have several examples of this dedicated conduct. Tata had two sons, Michael and Marcelino. Both were maintained with total dedication. Even when the father is furious with something happening e outside and gets very angry, she takes refuge with their babies in a safe corner, where anything can happen.

The most recent case is Ditty’s, who is grandmother and mother at the same time, with her two-month-old daughter Cecilia. Only now she lets her eldest daughter, Luiza, carry her for a while, to relieve her stress; but if Cecilia cries, immediately she takes her back. This approach will be maintained for four years. What proof of love and dedication one can ask more to a being that already lost several newborn babies, who were taken to be sold?

It is sad to mention the comment made a few months ago by a renowned primatologist that during a press conference had the misfortune of saying "Better to learn from elephants and whales than from chimpanzees" - in the case of maternity, demonstrating a total lack of what is the lives of mothers chimpanzees, who have suffered so much in recent decades when they lose their newborn babies or try to defended them with their lives when they are attacked by poachers and traffickers.

Among the many things we must learn from our primitive brothers - the great apes - perhaps the most important is how to be a mother and a father to their children. The world would be better if this example were our north.