World Chimpanzee Day

On July 14 it celebrates the World Chimpanzee Day. Although chimpanzees are the closest human relatives, they were still unknown in most countries of the world, while Charles Darwin did not write about them in 1856. And only in a century people began to recognize interesting facts from the life of these primates. The "discoverer" of the mysteries of chimpanzees was Dr. Jane Gooddoll, who began studying these human apes in the Gombe Stream National Park on July 14, 1960. A significant day was called "International Chimpanzee Day". In 2018, the name was changed to "World Chimpanzee Day", but the main task remained the same: to raise awareness of the importance of these wonderful animals in the wild, to preserve the environment and to prevent the illegal trade of wild chimpanzees.

In total in nature, there are two types of chimpanzees – ordinary chimpanzee and bonobo. And each species needs protection and defence. More than 100 years ago, Africa was inhabited by about two million of these primates, now their total population varies to about 350 thousand.

Our zoo holds a group of 6 chimpanzees. The group is headed by the oldest female, her nickname is Ambi, she is 51, she is followed by a 29-year-old female named Roani, that is followed by a 20-year-old female Alyti and three of her children born in our zoo: Chilina (2008), Ramina (2012), Sherman (2016). The family is friendly, almost everyone takes part in bringing up the children. Each has its own character and temperament. You can see our animals in a spacious, well-equipped enclosure of the primates department.