July 14 – World Chimpanzee Day.
Every year on July 14 the whole world celebrates World Chimpanzee Day.
Chimpanzees are believed to be the closest relatives of humans, but they were still unknown in most countries until Charles Darwin wrote about them in 1856. And only a century later, people began to recognize interesting facts from the life of these primates. The "discoverer" of chimpanzee secrets was Dr. Jane Goodall, who began studying these apes in Gombe Stream National Park on July 14, 1960. The significant day was called "International Chimpanzee Day". In 2018 the name was changed to "World Chimpanzee Day".
The purpose of this day is to raise people's awareness of the importance of these amazing animals in the wild, preserve the environment and prevent the illegal trade in wild chimpanzees.
In the last 20-30 years there has been a rapid decline in the chimpanzee population. This is due to the destruction and degradation of their habitat (large-scale logging), poaching for meat production and illegal trade in young ones. Infectious diseases have recently become a major threat to the chimpanzee population. The fact is that chimpanzees are susceptible to human diseases, and due to the growing contact between them and humans, there is an increase in the number of cases of infection.
In total there are two species of chimpanzees in nature – common chimpanzee (Lat. Pan troglodytes) and bonobo (Lat. Pan paniscus). And every species needs protection and defense.
Mykolaiv Zoo joins in celebration of this holiday.
Our zoo keeps a group of chimpanzees of 5 individuals. The group is headed by the oldest female named Ambi – she is 53 years old, lower in social rank: 23-year-old female Aliti and her three children born in our zoo: Chilina (born in 2008), Ramina (born in 2012), Sherman (born in 2016). The family is friendly, almost everyone is involved in raising children. Aliti is responsible and caring mother, always looking after her infants. In the process of moving her relatives from one enclosure to another, she helps the zoo staff, making sure that the children move to the right place in time.
The most favorite food of the chimpanzee family is sweet fruits: bananas, dates and figs.
We sincerely congratulate our chimpanzee family on this wonderful holiday and invite you to a summer walk to Mykolaiv Zoo.
