The North Carolina Zoo is enjoying a baby boom. Meet Winnie, its newest addition.

The North Carolina Zoo is enjoying a baby boom in 2024 — the park’s 50th anniversary year — with more than a dozen births, including a female Hamadryas baboon named Winnie.

The Zoo announced Winnie’s birth on Monday, though she arrived in June.

“At just two months old, Winnie is already an important ambassador for her species, including her cousins in the wild,” Patricia Simmons, CEO and Director of the North Carolina Zoo, said in the release. “Her birth and continued good health is a testament to the excellent care provided by our dedicated animal staff as well as the thriving environment we provide as the world’s largest natural-habitat zoo.”

The park also has welcomed red wolf pups this year, along with, six Van der Decken’s hornbill chicks and a bongo , the largest type of forest antelope.

Baby baboon now on exhibit

Winnie’s parents are Babu and Candy, both members of the park’s band of baboons, and she’s the pair’s second daughter.

The baby is now on exhibit at the park and usually can be seen close by her mother. Keepers say it likely will be several more months before the baby starts exploring the habitat on her own.

The park said Winnie was named to honor Gondar “Winslow,” her late paternal grandfather, a beloved baboon that lived at the park.

Winnie’s sister, Addison, is now 2 years old and is a member of the band. Keepers say she is showing interest in her little sibling.

Best Zoo in America

The N.C. Zoo was named Best Zoo in America last week by readers of Newsweek magazine. The magazine said nominees were proposed and vetted by a panel of travel writers and tourism experts before Newsweek editors made the final selections.

The state-run park presents animals in simulated natural habitats spread over 500 developed acres of a 2,200-acre site just outside Asheboro. It houses 1,700 animals of more than 250 species.