Edinburgh Zoo’s baby chimp named

20/02/2020 in Edinburgh Zoo

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo has announced their newborn chimpanzee has been named Masindi following a public vote.

The youngster now shares her name with the nearest town to the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda where RZSS funds vital conservation efforts for the species.

One of the wildlife conservation charity’s patrons put together the shortlist of names and Masindi was the most popular choice with 615 votes, followed by Sonso (406 votes), Siba (400 votes) and Waisoke (105 votes).

Donald Gow, Edinburgh Zoo’s Budongo Trail team leader, said, “We are thrilled over 1,500 people voted to help name Masindi who is a particularly special new arrival because she is a Western chimpanzee, a critically endangered subspecies.

“Conservation is at the heart of what we do and it is fantastic to see our chimpanzee troop helping to raise awareness of the threats their species faces in the wild.”

As well as being part of the European Endangered Species breeding programme, RZSS has funded work to protect chimpanzees in the Budongo forest in Uganda since 2005. Supported by RZSS, the Budongo Conservation Field Station combines research and practical action to ensure sustainable management and use of the Budongo Forest Reserve where there are currently over 430 chimpanzees being monitored across eight sites.

The field station team also work with local communities to dissuade hunters from setting bush meat snares in the forest, in which the chimps regularly get caught or injured. As part of this scheme, they provide the ex-hunters with breeding pairs of goats to start an alternative source of livelihood not dependent on forest resources.

This work is made possible thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.