Proving once again that dogs are capable of incredible compassion, here are some adorable photos of a dog caring for an orphaned chimp.
Little else is known about the photos, which were originally published on Reddit. The story is that the chimp’s mother died at the zoo where she lived, leaving her baby with no one to care for it. A zoo employee took the baby chimp home to administer additional care, and that’s when it dawned on him that perhaps his dog — who had just given birth and was nursing a litter of puppies — might step in for a little chimp-sitting.
The two apparently bonded, with the baby chimp becoming one of the family. As evidenced by the photos, dogs and chimp seem pretty content with each other, with the baby chimp snuggling up with the mama dog as if it were a human baby.
In fact, it’s not too difficult to see ourselves in these images. It makes us think of the story of Romulus and Remus, who, according to legend, were suckled by a she-wolf after being abandoned, and grew up to found the city of Rome. While we wouldn’t go handing our children off to wolves and would like to emphasize that dog-and-baby interactions should always be carefully supervised, we’re pretty sure that some dogs have deeply maternal instincts. And hey, after all, they might even make your baby healthier!
Via the Huffington Post
