Baby Chimpanzee At The Maryland Zoo Gets A Name

BALTIMORE, MD — The baby chimpanzee at The Maryland Zoo now has a name. Maisie was named after thousands cast their votes for the title, which means "Pearl."

Maisie was born at the Oklahoma City Zoo in August. She is being hand-raised at The Maryland Zoo, where officials hope to introduce her to her surrogate mom, chimp Abby. The two will meet once the baby chimp has achieved age-appropriate milestones like being able to crawl, stand on her own and cling to mesh in the chimp habitat.

Since Maisie arrived at The Maryland Zoo in late September, a team has worked around the clock to ensure she drinks baby formula every three hours, plays and strengthens her muscles. Maisie can sit up and roll over at the moment, officials reported.

Zoo personnel say having a name for the chimp is helpful for zoo workers and the chimp troop.

"Animal care staff use individual names, especially during training sessions," Chimpanzee Forest area manager Pam Carter said in a statement. "The chimpanzees all recognize their own names as well as each other’s, and being able to call her Maisie will help us make the important introductions to the troop when she is ready.”

"Maisie" was selected after an online naming contest took place from Oct. 19 to Nov. 5, and the zoo reported receiving more than 9,500 votes. The next most popular names were Asha, Olivia, Nyota and Tulia, all of which were selected by the team caring for the zoo's littlest chimp.

"It helps create a unique bond between the animal and our visitors,” Margaret Rose-Innes, assistant general curator at The Maryland Zoo, said about naming the animals. “We hope that if they learn to care for the individual, they will also care about what we are doing to save that species, which is so important not just for our future generations, but also for the future of Maisie’s wild cousins.”

Chimpanzees are classified as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List. Officials say they are threatened by poaching, disease and habitat loss as the African forest thins out due to commercial logging, fires and agricultural operations.

While there is no official time line for her public debut, zoo personnel anticipate Maisie will likely be introduced to the other chimps in late January or early February and to the public this spring.