A RARE chimpanzee has been born at Chester Zoo for the first time in nearly a decade.

The female newcomer, a Western chimp was born on June 4 and is said to be doing well.

Yet to be named, the baby chimp is inseparable from 24-year-old mum ZeeZee.

The birth follows a scientific project which has spanned several years to assess the genetics of chimpanzees across Europe.

This research confirmed that the group of chimps at Chester Zoo are a highly-threatened West African subspecies - one of the rarest in the world.

Experts say that this new arrival is critically important to the population.

Collections director at the zoo Mike Jordan said: “The new arrival is particularly important as it contributes to better genetic diversity in the European Western chimpanzee population.

"It comes after a five-year-long scientific study of chimpanzees in zoos across Europe confirmed that the group of chimps at Chester is one of the rarest in the world – making it even more important to conservation breeding than was ever thought.

“In the wild, the Western chimpanzee is under huge threat from bush-meat hunting as well as extensive and increasing habitat loss and fragmentation from human activity, so much so that it is the first ever chimpanzee subspecies to join the list of critically endangered great apes.

"It makes the group at Chester an important conservation insurance population and the new baby is hugely significant.”

The Western chimpanzee is found in West Africa where it is patchily distributed from Senegal to Ghana and is already thought to be extinct in Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo.

In Chester, the new arrival has increased the number in the group to 20 and zookeepers say the baby has excited other chimps in the family.

Tim Rowlands, curator of mammals told the Globe: “Mum and baby have bonded positively and ZeeZee is naturally being incredibly protective of her newborn.

"She’s a wonderful, experienced mother and has learnt much of her parenting skills from her own mum Mandy, who is also part of the group and always on hand to lend her support.

“The interactions between the group are incredibly fascinating to watch.

"A new baby brings a new dynamic and the group is in a real state of excitement – particularly given that they haven’t seen a baby in their group for the best part of a decade.”

The last arrival of a baby chimp to the zoo was Tina who was also born to mum ZeeZee in February 2009.