This Baby Monkey’s Milk-Time Cry Is Impossible to Ignore

A newborn baby monkey opens its mouth wide and screams when its milk is running late. That’s the moment at the heart of this footage, and it’s the kind of sound that makes you want to hand over a bottle immediately.

The little monkey, still small enough to sit in the palm of a hand, has the pink, mostly bare skin of a very young primate, with a small patch of dark fuzzy hair on its head. Its eyes are wide open and alert, and its whole body seems to lean into the cry, tiny fists curling up near its chest.

What does the video actually show?

Across the footage, the baby monkey is seen in a few different settings. In one shot it sits upright on a soft yellow towel, mouth open, clearly mid-cry. In another, it’s perched on a patterned blanket next to a patch of artificial green turf, gripping the fabric with tiny fingers as it looks up toward the camera.

There’s also a quieter moment where the baby is curled up, eyes closed, while a caregiver’s hand reaches in gently to touch or hold it — a clear sign that someone is close by, watching over it and responding to its needs.

Why do baby monkeys cry for milk?

Like many newborn mammals, baby monkeys rely on frequent feeding, and a loud cry is one of the few tools they have to signal hunger. When feeding is delayed, that cry can become more intense and more urgent, which seems to be exactly what’s captured here — a small animal expressing a big need in the only way it knows how.

The footage doesn’t show the outcome of the crying spell, but the presence of an attentive hand suggests help wasn’t far away.