Bhubaneswar: Bringing cheers to the followers and staff of the Nandankanan Zoological Park, female Chimpanzee ‘Durga’ gave birth to a baby today. With this, the number of chimps at the zoo rose to eight.

Zoo official sources said, the 7.4 years old ‘Durga’ and her baby have been housed separately and are under round the clock monitoring.

The official sources added following the mating between Durga and Julu which was recorded from May 26 to May 29, 2024, and from June 2 to June 6, 2024, the female chimp gave birth to the baby this morning.

In December last year, the number Chimpanzees at the Nandankanan Zoological Park dwindled to seven following the death of ‘Julu’ at the age of 36 years.

Julu was the first chimp to be brought to Nandankanan. On May 16, 1994, 'Julu' was brought to Nandankanan from the Singapore zoo. 

Located 15 kms away from Bhubaneswar, the Nandankanan Zoological Park is a premier large zoo in the country.