Twycross Zoo names rare baby bonobo ape

Ndeko, meaning "brother" in Congolese, was born as part of a European Endangered Species Programme

A rare bonobo born at the only zoo in the UK to successfully breed them has been officially named.

The male baby ape Ndeko was born at Twycross Zoo to 19-year-old female Cheka in August.

The Leicestershire zoo said the name, meaning "brother" in Congolese, received about 790 (44%) of 1,800 public votes during a week of voting.

Ndeko, who has a brother Winton, five, at the zoo, was born as part of a European Endangered Species Programme.

Ndeko, the baby bonobo, was born at Twycross Zoo to 19-year-old Cheka in August

Cheka also has a daughter, nine-year-old female Gemena, who lives at Leipzig Zoo in Germany.

The zoo said bonobos, which are often mistaken for chimpanzees, are poached for their bush meat and threatened by commercial logging and expansive agriculture in their native Congo.

The great apes, which share 98% of their DNA with humans, were recently found to be communicating with one another in the wild in ways previously thought to be uniquely human.

Baby De Brazzas monkey (left), baby spectacled langurs (centre) and baby emperor tamarins (right) were born at Twycross Zoo in the summer of 2015

Twycross Zoo said it also welcomed the birth of several other baby monkeys during the summer, including three in one week.

Charlotte Macdonald, from the zoo, said: "Every one of these babies is vital to our efforts to preserve healthy, thriving captive-bred populations."

It is a part of a UN initiative to ensure the long-term survival of chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orang-utans and their habitats in Africa and Asia.

Ndeko received about 800 of 1800 public votes during a week of voting