Zoo raises chimp on human colostrum after mum accidentally drops newborn

Rockhampton Zoo's chimpanzee, Sile, dropped baby Cassie in the hours after birth, fracturing its femur.

Despite the fall, keepers say mum and baby are doing well, but cannot say for certain when they can be fully reunited.

Donated colostrum or breastmilk can be a lifesaver for human babies, but it is also keeping a newborn chimpanzee alive in central Queensland.

When the Rockhampton Zoo welcomed a new baby chimp last week the team was overjoyed.

However, zoo curator and chimpanzee specialist, Blair Chapman, said the 19-year-old first-time mother, alpha female Sile, struggled to carry its new young and accidentally dropped the hours-old baby from a height, fracturing its femur.

Mr Champman said after a flurry of vet visits and x-rays, the baby was fitted with a cast and was being hand-reared.

"She is under our care at the moment while she recovers, but the ultimate goal is to get her back with mum."

Baby Cassie is now in a cast after its mother accidentally dropped it. (Supplied: Rockhampton Regional Council)

The baby's care involves 24-hour treatment, ensuring the infant meets all its milestones, doing exercises and keeping its leg elevated.

It also needed to be fed, which is where an unlikely hero stepped in.

Cherie Rutherford is a councillor with the Rockhampton Regional Council, which owns the zoo.

Cr Rutherford said a pregnant woman, Cassie, who is also a zoo "supporter", happily donated colostrum for the baby, to top up the two-hourly formula feeds.

"That gives her [the baby] best chance of having all the right antibodies," Cr Rutherford said.

"Chimpanzees share 98 per cent of their DNA with humans, so that's a really good thing that Cassie has been able to have that colostrum."

The new arrival was named Cassie, after both the woman who donated the colostrum and chimpanzee Cassius, who lived at the zoo for decades before its death last year.

"He was a beautiful soul and we thought it was very, very fitting that the new baby Cassie carries his name," Cr Rutherford said.

Cassie is the zoo's first baby chimpanzee born in six years. (Supplied: Rockhampton Regional Council)

Despite the rough start, Cr Rutherford said baby Cassie was having positive interactions with mum, Sile, and the troop, through a barrier.

"[Cassie] comes to visit each day with her mum and also with the rest of the troop," she said.

"Wraps that she [Cassie] uses are also brought up to Sile, so that she's getting used to the baby's smell."

Blair Chapman (left) and Cherie Rutherford says despite the rough start, both mum and baby are doing well. (Supplied: Rockhampt