A newborn Chimpanzee was born at the Plzen zoo on New Year’s Day. The last birth was in 2003, also in Plzen, stated the spokesperson for the Plzen zoo Martin Vobruba. The young male was born in the afternoon has only been achieved two other times, in 1978 and 2003 respectively. In 1978 the newborn did not survive, with the 2003 birth surviving into adulthood. The 2003 Chimpanzee now lives in France and is also a mother.
The five Chimpanzee group, now six, are all okay. “The young Chimpanzee is in his mother’s care, breast feeding naturally. The zoo staff is not involved in any way. It is important to give the chimpanzees the highest level of peace and space for taking care of the baby in the first days of his life” stated Vobruba. For this reason the zoo is keeping the grounds where the chimpanzees live off limits to visitors for the coming weeks and asks for understanding from the public.
Healthy chimpanzees are known to live up to the age of 50 in captivity, 40 is the maximum that the Plzen zoo has achieved.
