POWELL – The staff at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are excited about two pending births in the great ape family that will increase the population by two and provide more hope for the future of two very rare species.
For the first time in over 60 years, the zoo’s Animal Care team is preparing for the birth of a baby Bornean orangutan and, to add to the excitement, the zoo is also expecting the birth of a baby bonobo, the first bonobo born in the United States in three years and the first at the Columbus Zoo since 2016.
Orangutan, Khali (pictured above right), and bonobo, Faith (left), expected to give birth in late fall, according to zoo officials.
Khali, who is 17, was seen mating with 30-year-old Sulango in the spring and zookeepers has seen 18-year-old bonobo breeding with 19-year-old male, Gander. Bonobos are humans’ closest living relatives, sharing 98.7% of the same DNA.
Ultrasound imaging is not used to determine the sex of the babies while in the womb, and the team will determine the sex of the babies after they are born.
Orangutans are listed as critically endangered on the International Union of Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species while bonobos are classified as endangered.