A baby chimpanzee that took the internet by storm after a video of its reunion with its mother went viral on social media, died on December 22, 2022, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, confirmed.
Kucheza, the baby chimpanzee’s name, which means “play” in Swahili, who brought fame to the Sedgwick County Zoo, died unexpectedly on Thursday. The Zoo keepers found the five-week-old dead in his mother’s arms. However, due to the attachment the two had, they confirmed he would remain with his mother until she was ready to part ways with him, the zoo wrote on their Facebook page.
Kucheza was delivered via C-section in November. As a requirement, the infant was taken away from the mother for two days for medical observation.
However, the bonding happened when Mahale got close to the baby chimp who was swaddled in a blanket. At first, she sat quietly, seemingly unaware that her newborn was nearby. Seconds later, baby Kucheza lifted his arm, and got the attention of mama, who rushed over and scooped him up into her arms.
She then hugged the baby chimp, with her love evident as she embraced him. The heartwarming event made the video go viral.
While explaining the subsequent events, the zoo keepers said that Mahale was heartbroken by the sudden death of her baby and was not yet ready to let him go. Staff have yet to conduct a study into the cause of Kucheza’s death, they wrote on Facebook Thursday.
However, in a follow-up post on December 26, 2022 the zoo wrote on its page that the team conducted a necropsy to determine the cause of death, and they’re still waiting for answers.
They also noted that the chimp family is still mourning, but they have started “vocally” greeting the keepers, which is a good sign. They also urged viewers on Facebook to be considerate with their comments on the posts, as the workers at the zoo were greatly affected by the death of Kucheza.
Due to the death of baby chimp Kucheza, Sedgwick County Zoo has set up a donation page for friends of Kucheza to donate to chimpanzee conservation in his honor.
The donation page read in part, “Kucheza was a beacon of love for the short duration he was with us. He provided opportunities to educate and inspire conservation for a generation of chimpanzees.”
Sedgwick County Zoo is home to 3,000 individual animals and nearly 400 species.