A Bonobo Is Born

Elema the bonobo with newborn baby. Photos courtesy of the Milwaukee County Zoo.

A baby bonobo was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

It’s the first bonobo, an endangered species of Great Ape, born at the zoo since 2016. Native to the central rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, the mother Elema was born at the Columbus Zoo in 2012. She came to Milwaukee in 2021.

“Elema is a highly attentive mother and holds her baby close or cradles the new addition in her lap,” the zoo said in a statement. “The animal care team noted that the entire troop helped Elema during the birth, gathering around her to support and protect. The troop will play a supportive role in the social development of the baby for many years.”

Elema has been guarding her new baby very close and zookeepers have not been able yet to determine the sex of the new baby, a spokesperson for the zoo said. But Elema and her small baby can be seen in the zoo’s Adventure Africa exhibit. The baby is the 16th bonobo born at the zoo, which is home to 19 bonobos.

Bonobos first came to the Milwaukee zoo in 1988 when a species survival program was created by Dr. Gay Reinartz, a conservation biologist who has spent her career working with bonobos.

As a species, Bonobos are one of the closest living relatives of humans, sharing 98.7% of our DNA, according to the Zoological Society of Milwaukee. Only an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 bonobos remain. The species is threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

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