Chimpanzee trio swings into new home at SoU's jungle safari
Vadodara: Marking World Rainforest Day on June 22, the jungle safari and zoological park at the Statue of Unity (SoU) in Kevadia of Narmada district opened a new chimpanzee exhibit to the public on Sunday.
The enclosure, designed to mirror the tropical rainforests of Africa, is now home to three chimpanzees — a male named Nico and two females, Suzy and Emilia — who arrived in India from the Capital Zoo Wildlife Park in Abu Dhabi. The trio originally hails from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
"With this addition, our park now showcases 113 'ratnas' (species)," said Vipul Chakravarti, director of the Sardar Patel Zoological Park.
"The chimpanzees have settled well after their quarantine period and are now fully acclimatized to the Indian environment."
Visitors can view the primates through glass barriers, offering an immersive rainforest-like experience. "Tourists will feel as if they are standing inside a rainforest, watching the chimpanzees in their natural habitat," Chakravarti said.
Highlighting the ecological role of chimpanzees, he added, "Being primarily frugivorous, chimpanzees play a vital part in seed dispersal, contributing to rainforest regeneration."
Chimpanzees are humans' closest living relatives, with genetic studies confirming a high degree of similarity between the two species.
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