About six months ago, on May 26, 2024, Chimpanzee named "Miru" (female, 21 years old) gave birth to a female baby named "Shijimi" through artificial insemination. Since Miru's name comes from the Japanese word for "mirugai" (a type of clam), her baby was also given a name related to "shells."


Shijimi is the second offspring born through artificial insemination in Tama (the first was Dill, born to Mikan).
When Miru gave birth for the first time in 2013, she lost her puppy at about 35 hours after birth. Seeing her continue to care for her dead puppy for a while, unable to give up, and seeing her interest in other puppies, we thought, "Mir must love children," so the birth of Shijimi was a very happy event for us.

Just as we had imagined, Mill was holding and caring for her newborn baby tightly. It is said that Chimpanzee who have never raised offspring before are more likely to abandon them. Perhaps because of her experience helping other parents raise their young within the group, Mill seemed to be very good at parenting.


Video of childbirth
However, about three weeks after the pups were born, I noticed a lump on Mil's wrist. It seemed she was excessively licking herself and her pups. Female puppies can become nervous after giving birth, so I was worried that Mil might be suffering from postpartum depression.

We suspected that spending every day alone with her mother was putting a strain on Mil, so we decided to actively arrange for her to meet other individuals and live with them. Mil quickly warmed up to the other members of the group, but the other Chimpanzee were very interested in Shijimi and often stayed near Mil, sometimes trying to touch her. When this happened, Mil would get angry and try to avoid the individual.

However, Mil's behavior towards "Mikan" (female, 18 years old) and her child "Dill" (male, 2 years old) was different. Mil greeted Mikan many times, approached Mikan and her child on her own, and invited Dill to play. Dill was hugged by Mil and gently touched Shijimi. Perhaps Mil wanted the children, who were close in age, to get along. As Mil continued to coexist with them in this way, the growth on Mil's wrist disappeared, which was a great relief.


Dill (top right) is playing and laughing with Mill. Shijimi (left) is clinging to Mill's belly.
By October, Shijimi had started putting whatever Miru was eating into her mouth, making sounds like "Oh!" and even grabbing onto the bars to stand up. Now she seems to want to put everything in her mouth. Miru quickly picks her up if she senses danger, so Shijimi is trying to be as adventurous as possible within the limits Miru allows.

In the morning, when I say, "Your baby is so cute today!", Mil greets me back. As Shijimi wobbles to her feet and looks at me curiously, Mil gently places her hand on her, and her face seems somehow proud.

[Tama Zoo, Tama Zoological Park]

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