Chimpanzee delighted at being reunited with human foster family

A chimpanzee was reunited with the humans who raised him after he was rejected by his mother.

Mobile phone footage begins with Limbani quietly sipping a drink through a straw until he is called from behind and turns to see his former foster father, Jorge.

The ape immediately becomes very vocal and jumps into the man’s arms, hugging him tightly.

Limbani keeps his arms wrapped around the man’s neck and his legs around his waist, like a small child.

Jorge strokes the ape’s head and then leans back to give him a kiss on the face.

The chimp then spots Jorge’s wife, Tania, and reaches out to her for another cuddle.

Posting the heart-warming video on Instagram, the Zoological Wildlife Foundation in Miami said the couple helped provide Zimbani with “around the clock care for the first few months of his life” after he was born with pneumonia and rejected by his mother.

The foundation said the ape can go months without seeing Jorge and Tania but his reaction is “always the same”.

Limbani caught pneumonia after his mother broke three ribs while giving birth and rejected her baby when she was unable to produce enough milk for him.

The video shows the powerful bond which developed between the animal and his foster family as he was kept under medical care for the first four months of his life.