Gorilla 'adopts' kittens as her children: VIDEO
Adorable viral video of Koko and her kittens shows the gentle maternal nature of a lowland gorilla
Koko the gorilla doesn't have any children of her own but she's absolutely in her element playing the devoted mum to a pair of fluffy kittens.
In this wonderful video, Koko, a 38-year-old lowland gorilla, actually 'purrs' with pleasure as she gently scoops the kittens from their nesting crate and cuddles them in her arms.
In the background, you can hear the voice of Dr Penny Patterson of The Gorilla Foundation, who's been working with Koko for 30 years; Koko and Penny use sign language to communicate with each other.
You can hear Penny's delight when Koko, holding the kittens tenderly to her huge chest, lets out a big gorilla purring sound. And later, you see Koko playing with the kittens, tickling their tummies and rubbing their heads with a gentleness that belies her enormous size.
But our favourite moment of all is nearer the end, when Koko's holds a piece of toy cake, takes a pretend bite and then offers it to the kittens to take a pretend nibble, too.
More like this
Read more:
Authors
Helen is author of the classic advice book Parenting for Dummies and a mum of 3. Before joining MadeForMums, she was Head of Community at Mumsnet and also the Consumer Editor of Mother & Baby.
How NatPat's wellness patches may help your family
NatPat's range of wellness patches and stickers aim to tackle everything from allergies to lack of focus. We take a closer look at the range.