by Rod Hackney
August 16, 2010
Beth McChesney, a keeper at the North Carolina Zoo, watches a baby chimpanzee as it rests in a nursery at the park. The infant had to be taken for hand-rearing shortly after it was determined that her first-time mother could not adequately care for her. The baby is healthy and eating well and weighs about four pounds. She is cared for by staff 24 hours a day and is carried by them most of the time, except for brief periods that she spends in an incubator. The goal is to get the infant back into the chimpanzee group as soon as possible. For that and other reasons, she is shown daily to the chimpanzee group for visual socialization.
About the author:
Rod Hackney is the Public Relations Manager at the North Carolina Zoological Park.
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