Endangered Baby Chimp

By Aimee Braniff Cree

**EXCLUSIVE**

THE CUTEST images of a British-born new baby chimp have been captured.

One image shows the nine-week old baby boy who, is yet to be named but will likely be named after a pop star, snuggling into his mother ZeeZee.

Another shot shows the chimp baby feeding from his mother on February 10th 2023.

These cute images were taken by Gary Cox (52) from Bury, Greater Manchester (UK) at Chester Zoo, England.

Gary used his Canon 80D cameras to capture the critically endangered Western Chimpanzee baby.

This birth marks a great success for Chester Zoo’s breeding programme, as they have had several babies over the past few years and  thanks to the arrival of this baby boy, the ape-troop is now 22 strong.

“I had heard that there had been a newborn chimp before my visit so I was eager to try and capture a shot or two,” said Gary

“Unfortunately the chimps were indoors due to their enclosure being renovated.

“This dark environment with a scratchy viewing screen made things quite difficult.

“The first glimpse I got was a tiny hand over the edge of a platform. After that the mother moved around the room with her baby very close to her chest.

“I only saw brief glimpses of her baby a few times but luckily I managed to get a few shots of it which I think have turned out well.

“The mothers name is ZeeZee but I do not think her baby boy has been named yet.

“I believe that he will be named after a rock or pop star. Previous babies have been named Dylan (Bob), Alice (Cooper) and Annie (Lennox).

“ZeeZee welcomed her baby on December 9th 2022, being able to capture such animals when they are so young is an honor and not something you get to see very often.

“This subspecies of chimp, the Western Chimpanzee, is critically endangered which makes shots like this even more valuable.

“I was thrilled to be able to get the chimp at all. The mother was extremely protective so the baby did not show himself much.

“I was so happy to get his little face as it swung past, maybe in the arms of big brother Stevie. I felt like he was looking straight at me.

“Everyone thinks it is so sweet and cute. You cannot resist a baby animal and chimps have such amazing faces people can help but fall in love with them.

“I do believe he is a part of a breeding program.

“They have had several babies over the past several years and the troop is now 22 strong so it is proving to be very successful.”

ENDS