"Nene" is only 11 years old but this is old age for her kind, in monkey years. Living up to her name, which means "grandmother" in the local Turkish dialect, Nene escaped from her solitude and found a new family among three young macaque monkeys.

Th inhabitant of a zoo in the eastern Turkish province of Malatya for the past few years, Nene was given "custody" of three young monkeys saved from smugglers. She cares for the monkeys who arrived from the Gürbulak border crossing in eastern Türkiye’s Ağrı some two months ago. Young macaque monkeys, who were introduced to Nene by the zookeepers, appear accustomed to their new custodian, playfully running around her, while Nene looks like she is more than a surrogate mother to the lonely siblings, caring for them, sharing her food with the young animals.

Malatya Zoo, the only zoo in eastern Türkiye and home to 1,300 animals of 78 species, occasionally brings in animals saved from smugglers. Hanifi Acar, an official from Malatya Municipality which operates the zoo, said that the monkeys were doing fine after vets examined their health. Acar told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday that the young macaque monkeys would also live in the zoo in their adult lives and hoped they would breed. "With Nene, they are living like in a family environment. She claimed them like her own daughters. She hugs and kisses them," he said.