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San Diego Zoo Announces Rare Bonobo Birth
Written by San Diego Zoo
Monday, 12 November 2007
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=298&Itemid=2

San Diego, California - The San Diego Zoo's Children Zoo nursery is
caring for two of the world's most critically endangered great apes,
called bonobos, which are rarely seen in the wild or in zoos. With
wild populations being decimated at alarming rates in Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), the recent birth of a male infant named
Tutapenda on Oct. 29 is a significant milestone for conservation
efforts.

Bonobos are a very rare and endangered species native only to the DRC.
They are very closely related to humans sharing 98.4 percent DNA and
they are on the brink of extinction. The San Diego Zoo is one of only
a handful of zoological institutions in the United States who houses
and care for this rare species.

Tutapenda, which means "we will love" in Swahili was rejected by his
mother shortly after birth. To ensure his survival, keepers are caring
for him in the Childrens Zoo nursery. He joins his two-month-old
half-sister Mali who is also being hand-raised due to medical
complications at birth.

The announcement of Tutapendas birth coincides with the launch of the
Zoo's educational conservation initiative called Great Ape Awareness
Week that kicks off this weekend. The San Diego Zoo is striving to
raise public awareness and inspire community involvement to save great
apes from impending extinction. Great ape species include bonobos,
gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. It is estimated that some ape
species, like Mali and Tutapenda, may become extinct in the wild
within 10 years if immediate conservation action is not taken.

Throughout Great Ape Awareness Week, the Zoo will engage the public in
daily activities at the ape exhibits and keepers will give talks
spotlighting the issues impacting their survival and what people can
do here at home to help protect ape habitat abroad. To raise
conservation funds the zoo is conducting an online auction on their
Web site, www.sandiegozoo.org, and hosting a 5K fundraising walk
called Walk on the Wild Side on Nov. 17, presented by USA Federal
Credit Union.

Some of the auction items include exclusive VIP experiences at the
Zoo, art work, gift baskets, and one-of-a-kind ape-created artifacts
including foot and handprints made by the Zoo's great apes. This
morning, baby bonobo Mali lent a footprint for the auction. The
plaster cast will be elegantly framed and include a photo and
biography. The online auction and other Great Ape Awareness Week
activities continue thorough Sunday Nov. 18. To learn more, visit
www.sandiegozoo.org.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is operated by the not-for-profit
Zoological Society of San Diego. The Zoological Society, dedicated to
the conservation of endangered species and their habitats, engages in
conservation and research work around the globe and is responsible for
maintaining accredited horticultural, animal, library, and photo
collections. The Zoological Society also manages the 1,800-acre San
Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (more than half of which has been set
aside as protected native species habitat) and the center for
Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES). The important
conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part
by the Foundation for the Zoological Society of San Diego.