Twycross Zoo's Baby Bonobo Will Be Taken By Plane To Meet His Surrogate Mother

By Kim Riley 

Twycross, UK -Twycross Zoo has the only collection of bonobos in the United Kingdom and on 8th October 2008, Maringa gave birth to a beautiful tiny 1.6 kilo male bonobo baby. Although in the early weeks the youngster was unwell and needed extensive nursing and medical care, which involved a MRI scan, there are great expectations for the baby as he will be travelling to Frankfurt Zoo shortly to meet a new bonobo foster family.

Keepers at Twycross Zoo decided to name the baby “Bili” after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the species originates from.

Frankfurt Zoo keepers will play a vital part helping to rear Bili, as well as the bonobo collection that will play and interact with him, helping Bili to develop as he becomes part of their social group. Keepers at Frankfurt have trained a female bonobo to assist with hand rearing babies. Bili will be a part of the group and the female will hand the baby to the keeper so the keeper is able to feed and monitor him. 

Bonobos are our closest living relative as they have 99.6 % similar DNA to humans. These apes are under threat every day from hunters and habitat destruction hence they are extremely endangered. The bonobos at Twycross are the only ones in the UK and are part of an international breeding program.

In the spring of 2008 Twycross Zoo’s Director Suzanne Boardman and Conservation Officer Claire Pipe visited Lola Ya Bonobo, the only bonobo sanctuary in the world, to find out how Twycross Zoo could make a difference to bonobo conservation in the wild.

Twycross Zoo has pledged to help to secure the future of the bonobo in the wild by 2020. They will also contribute to the work of Lola Ya Bonobo, by assisting with the project in the wild and raising as much public awareness as possible – all through a new programme “BONOBO”!

Twycross Zoo

Twycross Zoo East Midland Zoological Society is a registered charity (No 501841) and aims to “care for our world’s animals and environments through conservation, communication and integrity”

Twycross Zoo is the most comprehensive collection of primate species and subspecies in the western world. Twycross is a popular visitor attraction for families and school children welcoming over 500,000 visitors annually. Opening times for visitors are summer 10.00 am – 5.30 pm and winter 10.00 am - 4.00 pm; the Zoo is open 364 days a year only closing Christmas Day.

Twycross has informal and formal education programmes for all sectors of society about wildlife conservation. We incorporate our animals wherever possible into regional and global breeding programmes to aid species conservation. We have developed environmental enrichment programmes to give our animals a fulfilled life, both physically and mentally.

Twycross Zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and Wildlife Information Network (WIN). These organisations represent their member collections and promote the values of good zoos and aquariums.