KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Cute. Precious. Darling.
All those words and more apply to 2-month-old Stevie at Zoo Knoxville. The zoo released new photos of the baby, the daughter of 37-year-old Binti.
The little one right now is thriving. She's getting round-the-clock care, according to spokeswoman Tina Rolen.
Zoo personnel is concentrating on getting Stevie integrated into the chimpanzee "troop."
That'll happen when she can sit up and move around on her own. It's expected she'll hit those milestones by late summer or early fall, when she's 4 to 6 months in age, according to Rolen.
For now, the rest of the troop can see Stevie -- safely and from a distance, Rolen said.
As for Binti, she's recovered from complications she had during birth.
"However, she still shows no maternal instincts," according to Rolen. "When Binti was hand-raised 37 years ago, the protocol was to treat them like human babies. We now know that baby chimps need to be carried continually by staff wearing a fur vest that she can grip, just like she would with her mother, fed when she is hungry and not on a schedule, and no baby talk -- they try to limit what she hears to the sounds of the other chimps."
Stevie is the first chimp born at the zoo since George, who greeted the world and stole the show in July 2008. About to turn 14, George lives at the Dallas Zoo now.
Stevie was born in late April. She's still living away from the public eye, but the zoo promises eventually they'll be able to see her. Baby George lived in privacy for months as well before visitors finally could see him at play at Chimp Ridge.
Caregivers have been slowly introducing Stevie to the other members of the chimp troop.
