Antwerp (The Brussels Morning newspaper): The Antwerp Zoo stopped giving birth control to two chimpanzees, Marit and Mia to boost their group’s genetic diversity. Marit may be pregnant with a baby from Tambuzi or Tuma.
Two years ago the caregivers at Antwerp Zoo got the permission from the European studbook keeper to liven up their chimpanzee group. It has been said that this was a big deal to boost the genetic variety and health of their chimpanzee crew. To help them have babies they stopped giving birth control pills to two chimpanzees Marit and Mia right away. The caregivers stopped giving the contraceptives because they really wanted the chimpanzees to have babies soon. They were excited about the idea of having new additions at the zoo. This would not only help the chimpanzee group stay healthy and grow but also make the zoo more interesting with new animals. They were really looking forward to the possibility of having baby chimpanzees at the zoo.
How are Antwerp Zoo’s Chimpanzees preparing for new babies?
Sarah Lafaut is saying that just like it takes time for birth control to completely go away from a person’s body it’s the same for Marit and Mia in the study. Marit and Mia were taught to pee when asked to check how the contraceptive was affecting them. Once they stopped taking the pill their pee was checked every month to see if they were pregnant. They used urine pregnancy tests which you can get at stores like pharmacies or supermarkets to check for pregnancy in humans.The method makes sure to check that the contraceptive is completely gone from Marit and Mia’s bodies before checking if they might be pregnant.
The caregivers were really happy when they got the test results. They had been getting negative results before so seeing two lines this time was a big surprise and made them very happy. Amalia said it felt like winning a big prize out of the blue. The team was so happy that they quickly shared the news in their WhatsApp group and even sent a picture of the positive test to celebrate together. She mentioned that Marit might have a baby but you won’t see her belly getting big quickly because chimpanzee babies are tiny. Chimpanzees don’t act sick or tired when pregnant like humans do. They keep strong in the animal world. The dad could be Tambuzi or Tuma, the top guys in the chimpanzee group. Tambuzi has been close to Marit. They’ll know for sure after the baby is born by testing the monkey’s hair.
