We as humans put a great deal of importance on family and relationships. We spend a lot of our lives cultivating friendships, romantic relationships, keeping up with family, loved ones and in general, are a very social species. Reunions are a big part of this for people we don’t often see.

Reunions are a beautiful thing and a lot of families and groups even do them annually. Another example of this is our class reunions we might have for high school or college as well. We do this in hopes to connect or reconnect with people we care about and to catch up on their lives and find out what they have been up to.

A reunion can also be a very emotional thing, especially if you haven’t seen or talked to the person in a while. The feelings of love and appreciation can often overwhelm us.

We like to think as humans we are unique in these feelings of love and joy in being reunited with people. The difference between humans and animals, however, especially in today’s technological age, is we are able to communicate across the world if necessary. Humans can call their mother or father, can send letters to friends who live abroad, can Skype or instant message and really have endless ways of showing our love even from afar.

Animals have to rely on the physical presence of things. This is one thing that makes having a dog as a pet so wonderful; you can be gone for hours or seconds and they act as though they haven’t seen you in years. You can actually feel their love when they see you. This kind of reaction is not limited to just dogs either.

Animals feel and process emotion in a far more advanced capacity than is often acknowledged. Just because they don’t speak of their feelings doesn’t mean they are not real or that they do not exist.

A chimp named Limbani is a living example of how deeply animals are capable of feeling. Born with pnemonia, Limbani’s outlook was not good. He was rejected by his mother and essentially left to die. Luckily he was found and taken in by the Zoological Wildlife Foundation and was also looked after by Tania and her husband Jorge who took a special interest in the little guy.

To this day Limbani recognizes Tania and Jorge as family and his reaction is the same, overjoyed and heart melting, every time he sees them again. This proves the bond between human and animal is real. Tania and Jorge worked round the clock for months to help aid Limbani as he struggled to survive.

They became his family and he knows who they are and how important they are to him, like a child recognizing its parents.

Limbani still lives at the zoo but his foster parents come to visit him regularly. They caught his reaction on video during the last visit and it has gone viral with the world. You have to see it to understand the excitement and love Limbani has for Tania and Jorge. The video below will make you heart melt and bring a smile to your face for days. This special chimp makes it very clear family reunions are not limited to people and an emotional connection can cross all species.

Source: YouTube