Soon after little Zane was born at the Detroit Zoo, his mom became ill. When she recovered, she showed little interest in her baby, leaving the zoo’s animal care team to hand-raise the baby chimpanzee around the clock for five months.
But little Zane’s story has a happy ending.
He’s found a devoted adoptive chimpanzee mom named Trixi and an adoptive sister, Tanya, to love him.
The zoo says Trixi seemed quite taken with Zane from the beginning. And Zane with her.
“Zane approached and hugged Trixi and Tanya the minute he had the chance,” Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society, says in a news release about the happy news. “Trixi is Zane’s primary caregiver, while Tanya, who has never had a baby of her own, loves playing with Zane, napping with him, and carrying him for short periods.”
See if you can spot him and his new family the next time you visit the Great Apes of Harambee habitat. It is home to 12 chimpanzees.
The Detroit Zoo is limiting the number of visitors, so plan your visit ahead by reserving your slot online.
