Keepers celebrate birth of world's rarest chimpanzee at Chester Zoo
A rare chimpanzee born at Chester Zoo is offering hope for the critically endangered species.
Primate conservationists at the zoo are celebrating the birth of the world’s rarest chimpanzee.
As few as just 18,000 Western chimpanzees remain across Africa and it is the first subspecies of chimpanzee to ever be declared critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Ape experts say that the birth gives further hope to efforts to ensure the long-term survival of the species.
The tiny baby boy was delivered by new mum ZeeZee in early December.
Staff at the zoo have revealed that the new male arrival is in good health and has spent the first few weeks of life bonding with mum and the rest of the 22-strong troop.
Andrew Lenihan, team manager at Chester Zoo, said: "We’re incredibly proud to see a precious new baby in the chimpanzee troop. Mum ZeeZee and her new arrival instantly bonded and she’s doing a great job of cradling him closely and caring for him.
"A birth always creates a lot of excitement in the group and raising a youngster soon becomes a real extended family affair.
"You’ll often see the new baby being passed between other females who want to lend a helping hand and give ZeeZee some well-deserved rest, and that’s exactly what her daughter, Stevie, is doing with her new brother. It looks as though she’s taken a real shine to him, which is great to see.
"It’s been a tradition of ours for decades now to name baby chimpanzees after famous rock and popstars in a bid to help raise some urgent attention for this charismatic species. We’ve previously welcomed Dylan (Bob), Alice (Cooper) and Annie (Lennox) – so watch this space!
"He may not know it, but ZeeZee’s new baby is a small but vital boost to the global population of Western chimpanzees, at a time when it’s most needed for this critically endangered species.”
In the wild, the apes are under huge threat as a result of hunting for the illegal bush meat trade, diseases spread by humans and extensive habitat loss and forest destruction across West Africa.
Western chimpanzees have already become extinct in their previous homelands of Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo.
They are among the most intelligent animals on the planet and, like humans, have learned how to use tools to help them in various tasks, like using sticks to dig out termites for food.
Mike Jordan, animal and plant director at Chester Zoo, added: “In the last 25 years alone the world has lost 80 per cent of its Western chimpanzee population, so the arrival of a healthy baby here at Chester offers us real hope that we can help turn things around for this species.
“We’re in the midst of a global extinction crisis. The UN estimates that one million species could be wiped out in our lifetime.
"But, as a world-leading conservation zoo, we’re doing everything we possibly can to halt and reverse this. Our teams have worked on the ground in Uganda, Nigeria and Gabon to help protect wild chimpanzee populations and their forest homes.
"This work, paired with the endangered species breeding programme in conservation zoos, will help play a key role in protecting this species from being lost forever.”
