As it is now 100% certain that the new bonobo baby born in December in ZOO Planckendael is a girl, the zoo has asked the public to help pick a name.
The new bonobo was born at the very end of December 2019, but the mother, Djanoa, was very protective and kept the baby very close to her, making it very difficult for the zoo personnel to determine the sex.
Almost two months later, the zoo is looking for a name for its newest bonobo girl.
Credit: ZOO Planckendael/Jonas Verhulst
The bonobo group in ZOO Planckendael consists of eight females and six males. Male bonobos stay with their mothers all their lives, but females will move to another zoo when they are about eight years old.
As the bonobo girl was born at the end of last year, she will get a name starting with the letter 'U', like all animals born in ZOO Planckendael in 2019. The zookeepers chose two names, Ulu ("second daughter") and Unabii ("the prophecy"), in the African language Lingala, which is spoken in the region where bonobos live, for the public to decide between.
Voting for your favourite name is possible on ZOO Planckendael's Facebook page until the end of the spring break holiday, on 1 March.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
