Baby chimp’s health declines while nursing, so Maryland zoo must ‘carefully intervene’

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is celebrating the birth of a baby girl chimpanzee.

The little one, who doesn’t have a name yet, was born to mother Rozi on June 10, according to a July 9 news release.

A few weeks after the birth, however, staff said they noticed something was off about the infant. Less than a month into her existence, her health was slipping.

Zoo veterinarians began to wonder if perhaps the baby wasn’t getting enough milk from Rozi. So, they stepped in.

“It was in the baby’s best interest for us to carefully intervene,” Pamela Carter, the zoo’s Chimpanzee Forest manager, said in the release.

Staff were able to stabilize the baby by giving her “around-the-clock” care, according to the zoo.

This human interference is not uncommon at zoos.

In fact, years ago, when Rozi was a newborn, she too had to be hand-reared by zoo staff.

Challenges with parenting happen a lot at zoos and across multiple species, McClatchy News previously reported. Because of this and the possible threats to infants’ lives, “hand-rearing” — putting an animal baby in human care — became common at zoos in the 1950s. However, the practice recently fell under scrutiny due to the animals’ subsequent difficulty reintegrating with their own species.

“Rozi is a hand-reared chimp and first-time mom so we weren’t sure what to expect,” said Carter.

For now, zoo staff will continue on this path for the health of the baby.

The zoo’s medical staff says they are happy with the newborn’s progress and intend to reunite the mother and daughter soon. However, the zoo says the baby may still require “supplemental nutrition” after this happens.

Roughly 150,000 chimpanzees live in the wild, and they are considered endangered. That’s about the population of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

According to the zoo, their population decreased from 2 million in 1990, before poaching, habitat loss and human diseases began to affect their numbers.

This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Baby chimp’s health declines while nursing, so Maryland zoo must ‘carefully intervene’."