This brief ANI news report from Dhenkanal, Odisha, captures a rather surreal piece of local news about a monkey that has apparently adopted a 24-day-old infant. The video starts with footage of the monkey sitting closely with the baby, gently touching its head and lying beside it while the mother does her daily chores. Around 0:25, the infant's mother, Kamalini Khuntia, speaks on camera about how the monkey unexpectedly arrived and began caring for her child without showing any aggression. Local resident Shantanu Das pops up at 0:48 to remark on how unusual it is to see a wild animal shower maternal affection on a human baby, while crowds of curious onlookers gather outside the family's home to catch a glimpse of the pair.
It is one of those classic, slightly low-res archival news clips that feels like a throwback to early 2000s television reporting. While the narrator's voiceover frames it as a heartwarming wonder of nature, there's definitely a natural sense of unease watching a wild monkey handle a tiny newborn so casually. Still, the sheer curiosity of the situation makes it an intriguing watch, especially seeing how calm the local community and the baby's family are with the whole arrangement.