Video: Emotional Orangutan ‘Kisses’ Pregnant Woman’s Baby Bump Through the Glass at Zoo in UK

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A heartwarming moment captured on camera of an orangutan kissing a pregnant woman’s baby bump through the glass at a zoo has charmed social media users.

Mother-to-be Kayley Bettany and her husband, Kieran, were visiting Colchester Zoo in Essex, England, in January of 2016. Upon reaching the orangutan enclosure, they met Rajang, a male orangutan, who seemed fixated by Kayley’s bump.

The curious orangutan gazed at Kayley’s pregnant belly before pressing his face up against the glass to inspect the bump and raised his hand to caress the glass, as if stroking the expectant mom’s belly directly. Kayley, then 20, shared her experience with the Daily Mail.

“When he started playing around with my bump through the glass it amazed me,” she said. “I never thought the orangutan would react this way. He even had a tear in his eye.”

Kieran filmed the entire encounter. In the footage, Kieran, then 21, can be heard commenting: “Aww, he’s holding it. He’s just looking right at your bump. He’s touching your tummy. It’s amazing!”

Kayley replies, “That’s so cute, isn’t it?” The orangutan, thoroughly absorbed by Kayley’s baby bump, then purses his lips and leans in close to plant a huge kiss on the glass.

Kieran posted the heartwarming video clip on YouTube, captioned: “Me and my wife who was 7 months pregnant went to Colchester Zoo and this orangutan fell in love with her bump. This was a wonderful experience, however upsetting at the same time. He even had a tear run down his face.”

To date, the video has over 6.1 million views, and comments flooded in. “Incredible,” wrote one viewer. “So emotional, so deliberate, just astonishing.”

Photo courtesy of Kayley Bettany

Someone else raised concern over Rajang’s captivity. “Isn’t this type of high intelligence a sign that they don’t belong locked up in cages?” they wrote. “If they can perceive another species’ pregnancy, they can perceive captivity.”

“I hope you go and take your baby back often,” another viewer wrote. “He might recognize y'all. He might like to see the kid growing up!”

The Bettanys had the very same idea. Kayley and Kieran’s daughter, Brooke, was born in March of 2016, and the family of three returned to Colchester Zoo to visit their old friend Rajang.

Photo courtesy of Kayley Bettany

Mom Kayley posted a short clip of their second encounter, and the orangutan did not disappoint; upon meeting Brooke, he pursed his lips and planted another huge kiss on the glass for his young friend.

Rajang, a part-Bornean and part-Sumatran orangutan, was hand-reared at Chester Zoo in England after his mother passed away. He was transferred to Colchester Zoo in 1980 and fast became an “ambassador for his species,” which is under threat from deforestation.

According to the zoo’s website, the orangutan was famous for imitating his keepers. “Rajang would copy his keepers’ actions, so much so that they would give him similar utensils to be able to fulfil [sic] the actions he was seeing,” they wrote.

“Rajang cleaned his own windows and also [did] some gardening by putting a plant in a flower pot after watching the gardener,” keepers added.

Sadly, Rajang passed away on Dec. 12, 2018. With heavy hearts, his keepers made the announcement on Facebook. “Our dear orangutan, Rajang, was a grand old age of 50 years and over the past few years of his life, he had been receiving treatments for chronic arthritis and other health problems that come with old age,” they wrote.

“Rajang always showed interest in people,” the keepers continued, “and no doubt there will be a number of pregnant visitors who experienced Rajang ‘kissing’ their baby bumps, something he became world famous for through viral videos.”

The orangutan’s keepers planned to rename Colchester Zoo’s “Orangutan Forest” in Rajang’s name to ensure his legacy lives on. “Sleep tight Rajang,” they wrote, “you will be missed but never forgotten.”