03 February 2022

Infant chimp Masindi celebrates her second birthday at Edinburgh Zoo

03 February 2022

An infant chimpanzee from a critically endangered species has celebrated her second birthday at Edinburgh Zoo.

Western chimpanzee Masindi, the youngest of the troop at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland zoo’s Budongo Trail, spent her big day on Thursday opening presents filled with delicious treats including straw, peanuts, sunflower seeds and chickpeas.

Masindi, two, celebrating her birthday on Thursday (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland)

The two-year-old shares her name with the nearest town to the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda, where the zoological society has funded efforts to protect chimpanzees in the Budongo forest since 2005.

Masindi is one of almost 3,000 animals at Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park.

There are thought to be less than 50,000 Western chimpanzees left in the wild. They are found in forests across the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone.

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