Can you feel the love when these baby chimps hug their new friends.
Leo, a recently rescued baby chimpanzee, got the best welcome in his new sanctuary with hugs from everyone.
He was very fearful coming to the sanctuary from all the trauma he had suffered, but because of the warm welcome he got there, he felt settled.
Leo was rescued and taken in by the Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection (LCRP), after having being kept illegally at a bar outside of a national park in Liberia.
He was not treated well there which was clear from the rope burn and his fearfulness.
“He was really, really jumpy,” LCRP’s founder, Jenny Desmond, recalled. “Like any sound just made him jump a mile.”
Initially they planned to keep him secluded so that he could be settled and then he would be introduced to the other chimps. But Leo had other ideas.
One day he managed to slip out past his caretakers to a room of other orphaned chimps and the video of him getting pally with the other chimps will put a smile on your face.
WARNING: this may make you cry!
Here’s a video of LCRP’s newest family member being welcomed for the first time by our middle nursery group. He’s beyond excited and overwhelmed (you can see his smile is mixed with overexcitement) everyone vying for his or her chance to get or give him m a hug! You can see That some of the chimps are even trying to help calm him. He was embraced fully and chose to stay with the group full time from this moment on. He now accompanies the group and their caregivers to their daytime play area and comes back to the house to sleep with them all at night. We’re thrilled and so grateful to all our little ones for their generosity of spirit! 😍😍😍 Visit link in bio to help or donate🖤IMPORTANT NOTE: **Chimpanzees are not and should not be pets or forced to live with humans.** The chimpanzee orphans at LCRP’s sanctuary in West Africa are victims of the bushmeat and illegal pet trade. Their mothers were tragically killed by poachers and require around the clock care. Thanks to the dedicated caregivers and staff, the orphans are being rehabilitated so that they will be able to thrive with others in a natural and safe environment when they’re older. Please support LCRP’s efforts to rescue chimpanzees in need to keep wild chimps wild ❤️
Posted by Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue on Tuesday, 23 April 2019
“I mean, they each literally ran over and just fought over who got to hug him!” Desmond said.
Now he will be in the company of his new friends in a safe place with round-the-clock care.
Desmond says that Leo’s recovery was speedy because because of the love and care he received from the community of chimps.
As they too were orphans, they understand what Leo might have gone through.
“He was so fearful coming in, after all the trauma he had suffered…but that reception really sealed the deal for him and started him on a journey toward recovery.”