Chimpanzee carrying cub dead for months moves zoo visitors | Chimpanzees

The scene of a mother chimpanzee carrying the body of her baby that died in February on her waist has surprised visitors to the Bioparc Valencia zoo, in Spain. The body is in an advanced state of decomposition to the point where parts of the skeleton can now be seen. In videos circulating on social media, it is possible to see the primate hugging his body while doing tasks with his companions.

Bioparc Valencia warned visitors about this behavior, also observed in wild animals, on February 16, through a statement accompanied by a video that portrays the situation that has continued since then.

The technical team intends to maintain the activity of the group of animals and respect the mother’s mourning. “Natalia and the group are in mourning. She will voluntarily detach herself from her body. If a caregiver forced it, she could lose the trust that has been built up over a long time. We must respect her time,” said an employee at the establishment.

According to Bioparc, the baby showed normal activity until the day before his death. The team carried out “very intensive monitoring of the calf’s breastfeeding”, but the health condition worsened.

Nataliathe chimpanzee who is dealing with the loss of her baby, belongs to the subspecies Pan troglodytes verusbetter known as the western chimpanzee or West African chimpanzee, which is one of the four subspecies of the common chimpanzee.

“This is a species where social bonds and group cohesion are fundamental, so all members are affected by these sad events. They need a period of ‘mourning’ and little by little they accept reality and loss, although the mother needs time to let go of the corpse”, said the center’s management in a statement.

According to the newspaper La Vanguardia, Loles Carbonell, technical director of animals at Bioparc Valencia, said that Natalia had already lost a calf in 2018 and that “the infant mortality rate for this species is very high.” The group also has another calf that is almost a month old.

Bioparc Valencia is home to the largest group of chimpanzees in Spain, of the subspecies Pan troglodytes verus, which is on the verge of extinction, according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It also plays an indispensable role in the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) program for its protection.

Now, efforts are focused on bringing the group as much peace of mind as possible, making sure they are overcoming the family loss, even if this comes at the cost of witnessing the process.

Text edited by Renata Monteiro