Le Bonheur team puts their heart into caring for Memphis Zoo bonobos
When the Memphis Zoo’s veterinary team needed a better look at the hearts of their bonobos, they turned to the cardiology experts at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s Heart Institute.
For the past 20 years, the zoo has been home to a troop of bonobos, an endangered species of great apes native to the Democratic Republic of Congo and known for their peaceful matriarchal societies.
However, the troop’s growing size and changing social dynamics now require a habitat that will offer them more space and varied social interactions. Accordingly, the Memphis Zoo has begun the process of relocating its bonobo troop to other zoos, including the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
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Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital The Heart Institute Memphis Zoo Veterinarian Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki has spent the better part of two decades writing about Memphis. A former digital journalist for WMC Action News 5 and staff reporter for Memphis Daily News, her work has also appeared in The Commercial Appeal, High Ground News, I Love Memphis, Inside Memphis Business, The Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent, Memphis Magazine and Tri-State Defender.
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