An orangutan at a British zoo apparently goes ape for pregnant women.
Rajang, a 48-year-old orangutan at the Colchester Zoo in Essex, has been seen kissing the bellies of at least four expectant women through the glass window of his enclosure, according to Nine.com.au.
The latest snuggle session happened Dec. 14 to Morgain Cole Abbott, of Suffolk.
“I think I’m going to cry,” Cole Abbott says in the video, which is now going viral on social media. She described the experience on her Facebook page.
“It was amazing,” she wrote. “He kept looking me right in the eye and then gesturing and pointing at my bump. Made me really emotional. Just an incredible creature.”
Cole Abbott posted the video of her experience on Instagram and asked viewers to donate 1 pound ($1.24) to the Orangutan Foundation.
“We could raise an amazing amount of money to help support these amazing and majestic animals in the wild,” Cole Abbott wrote. “Let’s take this incredible moment and make an even bigger impact, in the hope that one day my baby will be able to see these phenomenal creatures in the wild, safe from harm.”
Rajang’s affection toward pregnant women is well known. In September, he was filmed kissing the belly of 20-year-old Kayley Bettany through his glass enclosure.
“I never thought the orangutan would react this way ― he even had a tear in his eye,” Bettany said, according to the Mirror.
In July 2015, Rajang was filmed softly rubbing the glass where expectant mom Maisie Knight had pressed her belly.
“Out of nowhere, Rajang leaned forward and kissed the glass,” Knight’s partner, Jamie Clarke, told the Mirror. “Both our hearts melted and we were filled with excitement and joy.”
Zookeepers said Rajang has a fascination with skin.
“When staff were first issued shorts, Rajang was fascinated with the keepers’ legs and knees,” a Colchester Zoo spokeswoman told the Daily Mail. “He also is fascinated with cuts, bruises and, of course, baby bumps. When he sees them on a person, he tries to kiss them.”
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