Baby Chimpanzee Results

Published on 18 December 2019

Rockhampton Zoo has now received the results of a necropsy following the still birth of resident Chimpanzee Samantha’s baby last month.

The results show the male infant died either during the birth itself or immediately after as his lungs still had amniotic fluid in them, meaning the baby never took a breath. As this has occurred during the birthing process, the condition was not present during neo-natal tests so there was nothing that could have been done.

Rockhampton Zoo staff continue to monitor Samantha’s health as well as that of the troop and are pleased to report they are recovering from the loss.

Zookeepers will continue to keep a close eye on another chimpanzee, Holly, who is currently pregnant and is due to give birth in February next year.

Council would like to thank the community for their thoughts and kind messages over the past month.