According to The Discussion, people are the smartest species of primates. Actually, human intelligence is the only contributing factor that’s setting us apart from other species of primates.

With that being said, it is possible that we share some characteristics with them, right?

However, if we are recognized to be different in intelligence, after that not by emotions. Let us take chimpanzees as examples, like us, they can also feel love, pain, grief, and a lot more.

An solid bond!

This beautiful story of friendship between a human and a group of chimpanzees will surely make your tears roll down your cheeks. A real picture of love that’s unforgotten also after over two decades.

It’s a unusual relationship between a human and a team of primates. Truth be informed, it’s something that’s hard to locate even in our own kind.

Returning to where they truly belong.

In 1974, a group of chimpanzees was about to embrace freedom for the very first time in a long time. They were set to be launched to a shelter in Southern Florida.

These poor animals were caged behind cold bars, had actually not been sunkissed, and locked up in dark gloomy rooms. They were taken away from their natural habitat and used as guinea pigs for clinical study.

They waited for 6 long years before returning to the outdoors where they can openly live as they please. That time, the long wait was finally over, however, there was one huge problem …

These when caged chimpanzees were too scared to be out in the wild.

The physiological tension should’ve been so traumatizing that they were too afraid to come out in the open. The chimpanzees had a caretaker, Linda Koebner, an animal behaviorist that was just 23 years of ages at that time.

Koebner said in a segment from the 1999 documentary ‘The Knowledge of the Wild’, “They were frightened to get out of the security of their transport cage.”

” Whether it was afraid to step on the grass, they hadn’t been on anything but hard bars for years, or just the feel of the wind and the sun. They just huddled in the doorways and would not come out,” she added.

Her love and dedication propelled her to be successful on her mission.

The chimps were uncomfortable stepping on the turf, they were already used to being behind chilly bars and cages. But this just encouraged Koebner to convince them to embrace their new temporary home.

” Over time we coaxed them, and Doll was right up the tree.” Koebner said. “But some of the others had never tasted any kind of freedom since they were babies riding on their mom’s back, and they had been in these little boxes for years and years.”

She dedicated 4 years of her life to informing the freed animals.

In particular, there was a young male called Sparky, a female called Swing, and Doll, a six-year-old chimp. She spent many nights and days, she provided them comfort whenever they needed one.

More than simply a decent shelter and regular supply of food, they required Koebner to be there for them. It’s as if they felt best whenever she was around.

Unfortunately, she had to be away, indefinitely.

Koebner being back was everybody’s guess and nobody had the ability to provide the chimps the exact same love and affection again because she left. Their only resource of comfort and genuine care was gone, it resembled returning to zero again for them.

After over 20 years, someone’s back!

Yes, Koebner went back to the sanctuary where she got the chance to meet the staying chimps. Although she was worried if they would certainly still remember her or not.

She took place and asked the chimps, “Do you still remember me?” Swing flashed a sweet smile, a gesture that somehow meant a “yes”. Twenty years might have passed but the gorgeous memories of them together were still there.

The chimps certainly missed their caretaker, the first person who revealed them genuine love and care.

Their reunion made Koebner emotional that she had not been able to hold her tears back. They provided each other the sweetest hugs and it was a moment they all wanted to last a life time.

But for Koebner, it’s not her that helped the chimpanzees but them teaching her a lot of life lessons.

” Chimpanzees have actually offered us a lot in this world,” Koebner says in the documentary. ” A lot knowledge about ourselves, about our social lives, about our dispositions, since they are so much like us as beings.”

“These chimpanzees have actually taught me regarding resilience. All of them have gone through such remarkable adversity, and yet they’re flexible and they’re whole once again,” she added.

It holds true that oftentimes, animals will teach humans just how to be humans.