Lonely monkey embraces motherhood by adopting chicken at Israel zoo

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New Delhi: A lonely monkey at a zoo in Israel found a way to satisfy her maternal urges by adopting a chicken which truly supports the saying that monkeys exhibit human qualities.

Niv, an Indonesian black macaque, has spent the past week caressing, cleaning and playing with the bird at the Ramat Gan Safari Park near Tel Aviv.

"It seems that Niv, who is four years old and has reached the age of sexual maturity, has difficulty finding a partner," the zoo's spokeswoman Mor Porat said.

"This probably explains the maternal instinct she expresses to this chicken."

The bird, which doesn't have a name, could easily escape through the bars but chooses to stay near Niv.

"These kinds of relationships are rare," Porat told AFP. "Sometimes macaques kill and eat chickens that enter their pens or play with them until they die."

To avoid such a tragic end, officials separated Niv and her feathered companion from the other macaques -- apart from her mother, who is often the target of hostilities from other females.

Porat said the chicken "seems very happy to have found a surrogate mother. At night they sleep together."

A few months ago, Niv attempted to adopt a previous chicken, but it spurned her advances.

(With AFP inputs)