Pregnant female chimp adopts adorable baby orphan in 'unheard of' act of kindness

An Australian zoo unveiled its newest addition to their family on Wednesday -- an adorable baby chimpanzee.

The chimp's story is just as incredible as his cuteness.

The baby, named Boon, was orphaned when his mother, Soona, died shortly after giving birth to him at Montarto Zoo near Adelaide last week.

Infant mortality rates are high in the chimpanzee community once a chimp becomes orphaned. When Soona died, things were looking bleak for Boon.

But then something incredible happened.

Fellow pregnant chimp Zombi, who was there at Sonna's side when she died, took the newborn under her wing.

Zombi, who is expected to give birth later this month, immediately adopted him -- caring for the "healthy" and "strong" infant.

%shareLinks-quote="From the minute she first cradled the newborn, she's been amazing -- grooming, supporting and nursing the little man as though he was her own." type="quote" author="Laura Hanley" authordesc="Monarto Zoo Senior Primate Inmate Keeper" isquoteoftheday="false"%

Montarto Zoo's senior primate keeper told the AFP that she's never seen anything like that happen before.

%shareLinks-quote="I'm humbled by what we've seen from the chimpanzee troop over the last few days -- it's unheard of to see a heavily pregnant chimpanzee adopt an orphaned newborn infant." type="quote" author="Laura Hanley" authordesc="Monarto Zoo Senior Primate Keeper" isquoteoftheday="false"%

Hanley said in a statement that she doesn't know of anywhere else in the world where a pregnant chimp has acted like a surrogate to another infant, especially one who is so close to giving birth, herself.

The primate keeper was optimistic that Zombi would continue to care for Boon after the birth of her own child. Hanley said the zoo would let "nature take its course" and only intervene if they see the baby chimp struggling.

Adorable, right? Check out this gallery for photos of baby animals:

More from AOL.com:
Man named Santa Claus wins North Pole city council seat
83-year-old identical twins die within hours of each other
Neighbors mistake dead body for Halloween decoration