A tragic footage that was shared earlier this month shows a mother monkey carrying around her stillborn baby for 10 days.

According to reports, the monkey gave birth to the stillborn baby on October 9, 2019, and was filmed carrying and caring for the baby for 10 straight days.

The mother cared for the baby until a point where the dead body started to rot.

The tragic video was captured by Tracey Mobley at the Campfire Academy, Olifants West in South Africa.

Tracey talked about the entire incident and explained the actions of the mother.

Tracey said, “It was very sad and empathetic, she looked forlorn as if she was grieving and she kept trying to put it into a tree as if encouraging it to move and hold on, it was very distressing to watch. It was just very moving and we had many discussions relating it to when a human gives birth to a stillborn and just how little time they have with it to mourn.”

Tracey added, “She was clearly trying to engage a reaction from the baby. To start with she clung to it at all times and then gradually started to carry it in her hand and left it from time to time, and then she would carry it in her mouth in order to make full use of all of her limbs like when she would climb trees etc.”

The video that was shared by Tracey showed the mother monkey upset and worried as days passed and the body of her stillborn baby started to decompose.

A day after the baby was born, the stillborn became stiff and got mummified.

At one point, the body of the baby didn’t even resemble at all.

Tracey said the smell of the dead body was so powerful that she could smell the rotting body.

According to studies, it is completely normal for animals to cling onto their dead babies months after they die.

In a study that was published by Claire Watson and Tetsuro Matsuzawa, mothers carry the corpse of their infant for days and even months.

The study said, “Extended duration carrying is not exceptional. Most commonly, however, transportation lasts between one and several days, and mothers typically direct care-taking behaviour to the dead infant as if it were still alive, such as grooming and apparently protective behaviours.”

This incident shows that the pain a mother endures if something happens to her child is just absurd, and she has to go through a lot of things.