When infant chimp Keeva was born to first-time mother Carole, it soon became apparent that Carole was not adapting to motherhood appropriately. With the mother unable to care for the 2.6-lb chimp, Maryland Zoo's staff made the difficult decision to remove and hand-rear the baby while searching for a suitable home with a nurturing surrogate.
Maryland Zoo staff cared for Keeva as a tiny infant behind the scenes. During this same time, the Maryland Zoo’s animal care team worked with the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan (SSP) of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to identify an adult female chimpanzee who might fill the role of surrogate mother. It was determined that Keeva would be moved to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo where she could be matched with a proven surrogate chimpanzee named Abby.
"Abby, who lives at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, is a proven surrogate, who helped raise other unrelated infants. Ensuring that Keeva is integrated into a chimpanzee group as quickly and safely as possible gives her the best chance for a healthy development," Dr. Stephen Ross, chair of the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan committee, said in a press release.
With Keeva's welfare as the number one priority, Maryland Zoo team members moved quickly to arrange the transfer.
Now weighing a healthy five pounds, Keeva is holding her head up on her own, learning vocalizations and facial expressions, and beginning to teethe. At approximately 4–6 months of age, she will likely be strong enough to be introduced to Abby, then gradually the other chimps. (Infants are completely dependent upon their mothers for at least five years.)
It’s truly beautiful to see rescued animals, with very little chance of survival, go on to live long and healthy lives — like the baby sea otter abandoned by her mother or these homeless dogs found in a junkyard.
Chimpanzees are classified as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List. One of the greatest threats to the wild chimpanzees is loss of habitat, the African forest, from commercial logging, agriculture, and fires. Poaching and disease also put the wild population at risk.
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Baby Keeva plays with the staff at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.
Maryland Zoo’s animal care team worked with the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan (SSP) of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and determined that Keeva would be moved to Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo where she could be matched with a proven surrogate named "Abby."
Now weighing a healthy five pounds, Keeva is holding her head up on her own, using her long fingers to grasp and hold on, learning vocalizations and facial expressions, and beginning to teethe.
