Blind Orangutan Mother Sees Babies For The First Time

In 2008, Gober, a Sumatran orangutan, was caught in the North Sumatra province after conservationists realized she had gone blind. She had taken to raiding crops for food and was under threat from local farmers so she was taken to a care facility and entered into a breeding program. In 2011, Gober gave birth to twins but she was unable to see them. Finally on Monday, doctors were able to perform catatract surgery on Gober and declared the operation a success. It was the first such eye surgery done on an orangutan in Indonesia.Doctors were forced to wait until Gober's twins were old enough to be separated from their mother for the duration of the surgery.

The proud mother was reunited with her children and was finally able to see them for the first time. She was also able to see their father, Leuser, who is tragically blind as well after farmers attacked him.

Sumatran Orangutans are critically endangered and only 6,600 still exist in the wild. Gober is a vital part of the breeding program that may bolster their numbers and once grown, her children will be released to the wild.