{"id":152287,"date":"2025-09-18T08:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/152287\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T08:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:35:08","slug":"endangered-bonobo-born-at-twycross-zoo-in-extraordinary-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/152287\/","title":{"rendered":"Endangered bonobo born at Twycross Zoo in &#8216;extraordinary moment&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250905-110137-f27f908f49-web-2.29.1-3\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 iMuqLZ hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/6a1940e0-93bc-11f0-bd0e-75d70011515a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Adam Kay 11-year old bonobo Yuli looking at the camera while cuddling the newborn bonobo\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\"\/>Adam Kay<\/p>\n<p>The newborn was delivered to first-time mum Yuli on 11 September<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A zoo has announced the successful birth of a bonobo, an ape described as the closest living relative to humans. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Twycross Zoo said the newborn was delivered safely on 11 September to first-time mum Yuli at its site in Leicestershire. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Bonobos &#8211; which share about 98.7% of their DNA with humans &#8211; are on the red list of endangered species, meaning they are at high risk of global extinction, with fewer than 20,000 remaining in the wild.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Dr Rebecca Biddle, chief conservation officer at Twycross Zoo, said the birth was a &#8220;truly extraordinary moment&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Twycross Zoo said it was the only zoo in the UK to care for the species. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">As part of the European zoo conservation programme, it cares for 10% of the European bonobo population.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Yuli arrived at Twycross Zoo from Vall\u00e9e des Singes, in France, as part of the European-led conservation programme in 2023. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250905-110137-f27f908f49-web-2.29.1-3\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 iMuqLZ hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/3f9513a0-93ba-11f0-bd0e-75d70011515a.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Adam Kay The 11-year old Bonobo holds its hand over the newborn Bonobo\" class=\"sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi\"\/>Adam Kay<\/p>\n<p>Bonobos are humans&#8217; closest living relatives<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The zoo said the programme aimed to create a healthy population of the species in zoo environments, as their population in the wild &#8211; in the Democratic Republic of the Congo &#8211; was decreasing due to threats such as poaching and deforestation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Dr Biddle said: &#8220;Bonobos are humans&#8217; closest living relatives, yet they remain one of the most endangered and least understood apes on Earth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;Every birth is a true milestone and a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when zoos work together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;It is only through the dedication, expertise, and collaboration of conservation zoos that moments like this are possible.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adam Kay The newborn was delivered to first-time mum Yuli on 11 September A zoo has announced the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-152287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}