A baby boy bonobo that was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has been named after a former zoo director who played a major part in helping the zoo acquire bonobos, a species of ape once referred to as a pigmy chimpanzee but with longer limbs.
“Winstel” was named by an anonymous donor, and the name honors Don Winstel, a zookeeper who worked at the zoo for more than 36 years before retiring as assistant zoo director in 2008, according to a post on the zoo’s Facebook page. The zoo said that Winstel was “instrumental” in helping the zoo first acquire bonobos in 1990.
Bonobos are found only in lowland rainforests along the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“(Don Winstel) forged our connection to Claudine André, founder (in 1994) of the world’s only bonobo sanctuary, Lola Ya Bonobo, and remained within our organization until retiring from his position as Assistant Zoo Director of Animal Care and Conservation in November 2008,” the zoo said.
Lola Ya Bonobo means “heaven for bonobos” in the Lingala language, which is the primary language of the Dominican Republic. André created the sanctuary for orphaned bonobos.
The anonymous donor described Don as “a leader who supported and inspired so many staff members to care deeply for bonobos, and he inspired volunteers who have become the bonobos’ biggest champions.”
Winstel was born to a bonobo named Kibibi and is the great-grandson of two of the first bonobos that the zoo took into their care.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Baby boy bonobo named after former Columbus zoo assistant director Don Winstel
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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