The birth of the world’s rarest chimpanzee gives reasons for celebration among conservationists across the world who commented, saying that it gives hope to the world’s rarest chimpanzee.
The critically endangered Western chimpanzee named Zeezee gave birth to a male baby chimpanzee on the 9th of December after an eight-month gestation period. The baby is reported to be in good health and is spending time bonding with its mother and the other 22 members of the Western chimpanzee troop.
The Western chimpanzee was the first subspecies of chimpanzee to be declared to be a critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as far back as 2016 after it experienced an 80% decline in population over the past 25 years.
Human activities which include poaching, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation have also been at the root of the loss of these species. The species have therefore gone extinct in many parts of West Africa such as Benin, Burkina Faso, and Togo.
However, around 18,000 Western chimpanzees remain in some parts of Africa. Some of its population can still be found in places like Senegal, Ghana, and Guinea, with the largest population being in Guinea
Andrew Lenihan the team manager at the zoo’s primate section expressed his excitement when he commented saying “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 been doing a great job of cradling him closely and caring for him” he mentioned in the press release.
Lenihan continued by saying ” a birth always creates a lot of excitement in the group and raising a youngster soon becomes an 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 well-deserved rest and that’s exactly what her daughter, Stevie, is doing with her new brother. It looks as though she has taken a real shine to him, which is great to see” he further stated.
During the press release, Lenihan observed, “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 mostly needed for this critically endangered species.”
The newborn will be named after a famous rock star as mentioned in the press release in keeping with an age-old tradition
