ASHEBORO, N.C. — It was a sweet motherly moment captured by the North Carolina Zoo as a Chimpanzee carried her new born baby.
The chimp was born on Monday, March 18 at the North Carolina Zoo. The Zoo says, Chimp Gerre and her baby are doing well, and the young chimp started nursing quickly. Zoo officials said the baby’s gender has not yet been determined.
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The chimp’s birth is very important as it’s only the second one for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos in the past two years.
However, the birth marks the fourth as three others have been born at the Zoo since 2010 including” females Nori and Ebi and male Gus.
“Every birth is special to us,” said Zoo Director Pat Simmons. “We are thrilled to have this new addition! We hope our guests see the baby as a symbol of how important it is to save chimpanzees in the wild.”
The Zoo says the chimpanzee troop is very curious about the young baby.
With the new baby, the Zoo’s troop now consists of 16 chimpanzees – 10 females –Gerre & baby (sex T.B.D.), Amy, Ebi, Gari, Genie, Gigi, Maggie, Nori, Ruby and Tammy, and five males – Gus, Kendall, Jonathan, Lance and Sokoto. The Zoo recently lost one of its oldest female chimps, Ruthie, 47, in December of 2018.
The gestation period for chimpanzees is 230 days. Chimps have an average life span of 35-40 years under human care.
The North Carolina Zoo has been highly involved in wild chimpanzee conservation for more than 15 years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) believes there are 172,000-299,000 left in the wild.