After tragic loss, Sedgwick County Zoo chimp now has a new baby. Meet Kyansa
Chimpanzee Mahale clutched her newborn girl, Kyansa, in her arms for the first time Tuesday at the Sedgwick County Zoo.
Kyansa was born on Monday, after her mother went through an emergency C-section.
In a video posted on Tuesday, Mahale notices Kyansa wrapped in a blanket with her arms waddling in the air. She uncovers and grabs her.
Just two years ago, zookeepers found Mahale cradling her dead son, Kucheza, on Dec. 22, 2022. The zoo said the 5-week old chimp died from head trauma. The death was accidental.
Kucheza had gained internet fame after a video of his mother being reunited with him after an emergency C-section surgery went viral.
“Based on the family social dynamics and what we know of each individual chimp, we believe that whatever happened that night was an accident,” the zoo previously said.
The new baby, Kyansa, is named after a peak in the Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania, the zoo said in a social media post.
This is the fourth offspring for Mahale, who is 30 years old, a zoo news release said.