After a rough start, two apes join rest of family at San Diego Zoo

Not all families are pretty pictures, in the human world or the ape world.

When Mali, a bonobo ape, was born 14 months ago at the San Diego Zoo, she suffered such birth complications that she had to be separated from her mother for emergency medical care.

Two months later, when the same mother gave birth to a male, Tutapenda, she rejected the offspring for reasons of her own.

For a year the two bonobos, part of a great ape variety native to the Congo, were dependent on zookeepers for their survival.

Now, the two hand-raised apes are finally strong enough to be introduced to the rest of the bonobos on exhibit at the zoo. While their mother seems distant, a cousin, 4-year-old Makasi, has stepped in as a surrogate. Makasi, above, cradles the younger Mali on Friday.

--Tony Perry, San Diego

Photo: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo