The video you are about to watch below is a story of resilience, forgiveness and courage. Linda Koebner, today a famous animal behavior researcher, rescued two laboratory chimps when she was just a graduate student 18 years ago. The video is a clip from the documentary on PBS, “Wisdom of the Wild”, which shows her reunion with the two chimps she had loved and nurtured so many years before, to see if she could help these terrified animals transition to a life in the wild where they belonged!
You will see footage of their moment of release into freedom, having endured years feeling nothing beneath their feet, but the cold metal of their tiny cages. Seeing sunlight for the first time, and grass beneath their feet, was actually frightening at first, for these traumatized chimps. Seeing Linda coax them out of their cages, Doll and Swing (as she named them), began a four year journey in which Linda hoped with all her heart, that they would eventually be able to live out normal lives in the wild.
Eighteen years later she returns to where she left them, not knowing if they would be alive or if they would remember her as a friend. They were alive, and as she begins to call their names from the boat where she is nearing them, Linda sees a look of acknowledgement. What happens when she gets to land and approaches her old friends, is truly a testament to the uniqueness of each individual animal, and to what miracles love and nurturance can render. Have some tissues ready for this unbelievable reunion!
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