It was a moment that shook everyone watching—a tiny baby monkey named Alba, crying out in pain and confusion, as repeated rough discipline crossed the line into cruelty. Her small frame trembled, her eyes wide with fear. What should have been gentle teaching became a heartbreaking display of aggression.
The adult, meant to guide and protect, instead lashed out again and again. Alba, too young to understand what she had done wrong, could only cry—louder each time—until her body gave in to stress and exhaustion.
And then it happened. Her cries grew sharp and broken, her body stiffened, and she collapsed in what appeared to be a seizure-like episode, overwhelmed by trauma and fear.
Witnesses were shocked. Even in the wild, where survival is tough and discipline exists, this was too much. This was suffering—pure and raw. No baby should endure this.
Why does this happen? Sometimes it’s poor conditions, sometimes the adults are stressed, ill, or were never treated gently themselves. But none of it excuses the harm done to innocent young lives like Alba’s.
Thankfully, help came. Caregivers rushed in, scooping up Alba gently, checking her breathing, wrapping her in warmth. She whimpered softly, too weak to cry more. But she was alive.
