3rd Chimp Is Born in Zoo Baby Boom

The baby boom at the Los Angeles Zoo is now complete, with the last of three mysteriously impregnated chimpanzees giving birth to a healthy four-pound male this week.

The chimp was born Monday to Regina, 15, whose pregnancy, like that of two other females, surprised zookeepers; the male chimps in their exhibit have had vasectomies, are too young or seem uninterested.

DNA tests are pending to determine paternity.

On Wednesday, the still-unnamed newborn was taken from the 13-member troop of the Chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains exhibit to an indoor nursery, where he will be raised by zookeepers.

The move was triggered by the killing last month of Toshi, the first chimp in the series of babies, at the hands of two male chimpanzees. Then two weeks ago, zookeepers saw male chimps stealing 6-week-old Jean from her mother.

“They just carried her around,” said Michael Dee, the zoo’s general curator. “But we just thought we’re not going to go down this road again.”

Jean was moved to the nursery three weeks ago. She and the newborn will remain at the indoor facility indefinitely. They eventually will have supervised visits with the other chimps to get used to the sounds, smells and habits of adults of their kind, “so they know when or if they are reintroduced to this particular group, they’ll be chimps, not humans,” Dee said.