The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - The mother of a baby chimpanzee killed by an adult male at the Los Angeles Zoo has been allowed to keep the infant's body overnight.
The zoo says in a statement that leaving the dead baby with the mother gives her an opportunity to grieve.
The unnamed female baby was killed Tuesday by a male chimpanzee in an attack witnessed by zoo visitors.
The infant was born March 6 to a chimp named Gracie and was being gradually introduced to the troop, one of the largest in a North American zoo. The zoo says there had been no indication of aggressive behavior toward her.
Experts say, however, that attacks by males on small offspring of other chimpanzees occur often in the wild and in captivity.
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