Tourists watched on with a broken heart as a poor mother macaque refused to let go of her dead baby but carried it wherever she went in a zoo in Fuzhou, east China’s Fujian province.

The sudden death of the newborn came on January 18, 2016. The mother never stopped cuddling, hugging, grooming and even breastfeeding it since then. Any other macaques who attempted to approach the pair would be threatened to retreat by the mother with bared teeth.

According to the staff at the zoo, it is still unclear whether the baby monkey died of natural causes or of stomach infection. The exact cause can only be determined after an autopsy.