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News Release
| For Immediate Release |
Fort Worth Zoo beaming about bonobo birth
Zoo proudly announces first bonobo born in Texas
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FORT WORTH, Texas - The Mother's Day celebration began a month early at the Fort Worth Zoo when a female bonobo was born on April 12, 2010. This birth, a major triumph for this highly endangered species, is the first at the Fort Worth Zoo and in Texas. The Zoo invites the public to celebrate the rare birth with a naming contest on its website.
The soon-to-be-named baby bonobo joins the current troop of six bonobos at the Zoo. She is the third successful offspring for her 20-year-old mother, Lucy, and the first for 34-year-old sire, Kevin. Female bonobos give birth to one baby after a gestation period of approximately 8.5 months, and the average weight of a newborn bonobo is about 3 pounds. Lucy, a protective and attentive mother, can be seen holding her baby close in the Zoo's World of Primates exhibit. The Fort Worth Zoo is the only zoo in Texas to house bonobos, and the only zoo in the nation to house representatives of all four Great Ape species gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and the critically endangered bonobo.
Bonobos are one of the 43 endangered species that the Zoo currently houses. The Zoo's bonobos are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program created to manage a sustainable population of endangered species in AZA zoos. The bonobo (Pan paniscus) is most closely related to the chimpanzee. It is the least known of the Great Apes because it lives in a remote rain-forest region of central Africa, and was only identified as a species in 1933. According to DNA analyses, humans share over 98 percent of genetic material with both bonobos and chimpanzees.
"We are very excited about this birth," said Fort Worth Zoo Animal Collections Director, Ron Surratt. "The success of the SSP breeding programs ensures the genetic diversity of our captive populations for years to come."
Name the Baby!
In an effort to provide a name for the baby bonobo that reflects her heritage and personality (bonobos are native to the Democratic Republic of Congo), Zoo staff carefully and thoughtfully selected a list of five names for the public to choose from. Voting will take place from May 6 - 20 online at www.fortworthzoo.org/namethebaby. The name that receives the most votes will be the baby bonobo's name, and the grand prize winner will be determined by a random drawing among all entries of the "winning" name. The winner and winning name will be announced May 28, 2010.
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For Further Information Contact:
Alexis Wilson, Communications Director
awilson@fortworthzoo.org
Remekca Owens, Public Relations Manager
rowens@fortworthzoo.org
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