Detroit Zoo welcomes new baby chimp with famous name

Posted by parceline on

Saturday, July 14, 2018

ROYAL OAK, MI - A female chimpanzee was born at the Detroit Zoo before dawn today - just in time to celebrate the first World Chimpanzee Day.

The new baby's name is Jane, after esteemed English primatologist and anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall, famous for her work studying chimpanzees in the wild.

Jane, who weighs around 4 pounds, is the second baby born to her mother, Abby, 35, and the fourth baby for her father, Imara, 22. Mother and baby are doing well, staff said, and are spending time bonding behind the scenes at the zoo's Great Apes of Harambee habitat.

Abby's first daughter, Chiana, was born 24 years ago at the Detroit Zoo.

"Even though it has been 24 years since the birth of Abby's daughter, Chiana, mom clearly has not lost her excellent parenting skills," said Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society.

Visitors should be able to see the baby within a couple weeks.

Eleven chimps and three western lowland gorillas live in the zoo's 4-acre indoor/outdoor habitat.

That little Jane was born on July 14 is just extra special. World Chimpanzee Day is designed to mark the day in 1960 that Goodall first went to what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, the zoo said. It was there she began studying the social interactions of the wild chimps.

"For nearly six decades, Dr. Jane Goodall has been a passionate advocate for chimpanzees, and we are honored to name this little one after her on the auspicious occasion of the first World Chimpanzee Day," Carter said.

"We cannot think of a better way to recognize Dr. Goodall's important work and bring awareness to the conservation of chimpanzees in the wild and their well-being in human care."

Jane's birth was planned with help from national zoo conservation experts.

Chimpanzees are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The population faces dangers including illegal wildlife trafficking, habitat loss and disease.

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