New arrival at Rockhampton Zoo

Published on 03 February 2020

Rockhampton Zoo has this morning welcomed the birth of a baby chimpanzee!

Parks Chair Councillor Cherie Rutherford said she was absolutely thrilled to share the news.

“Holly, 31, gave birth to a baby chimp just a few hours ago. We can see that the baby is breathing and moving, and snuggling up to its mum.

“The father of the baby is Alon, who is also Dad to our adorable Capri.

“Our keepers haven’t been able to get any closer yet so we don’t know the sex but we know just how much the community cares for our animals so we wanted to let you know as soon as possible.

“After the tragic stillbirth of Samantha’s baby it’s greatly encouraging to see all the right things happening but it is of course early days. The enclosure will be fenced off to allow the troop to bond with the new arrival so you won’t be able to see them for a little while, but we will share updates as and when we have them.

“In the meantime, my thanks go to our wonderful zookeepers and our amazing community who I know are all incredibly excited about this new addition to the family.”