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Chester Zoo welcomes 'hugely significant' birth of endangered chimpanzee

Published  September 5, 2020 2:39pm EDT
World
Storyful

Critically endangered Western chimpanzee born at England zoo

A baby Western chimpanzee that is critically endangered was born at the Chester Zoo in Cheshire, England.

CHESIRE, England - Staff at Chester Zoo in Cheshire, England, welcomed the birth of a critically endangered Western chimpanzee on Friday, August 21.

The baby’s mother, 43-year-old Mandy, safely gave birth after an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy.

Primate experts at Chester Zoo are yet to determine the sex of the new arrival but declared the birth as ‘hugely significant’ for the species.

Chester Zoo said that estimates suggested that as few as 18,000 Western chimpanzees remain in Africa. It’s the first subspecies of chimpanzee to be added to the list of critically endangered apes.