It’s World Chimpanzee Day! Or, NiaD Mascot Day, if you prefer! We’ve been running the event since 2011, which means that our mascot friend has been staring at that laptop for 9 years! I hope s/he is making some progress…
HAPPY NIAD MASCOT DAY!
Of course, our chimp friend doesn’t have a name…
Roger, perchance? 
Mr X
Champ, of course. 8)
It has to be “The Thinker” 
“The Flinger” may be more appropriate to both the zoo bound versions of our mascot and to how we approach NiaD
Late happy mascot day!!!
I think it’s good it has no name. But I’m terrible at titles. So nameless is good as far as I’m concerned. 
I might be tired. 
Monk.
I’ve done some digging and found out that our good friend is called…
Yes, of course. Sorry!
Back in 2009 I was on holiday in Dallas and visited Fort Worth Zoo. It’s a lovely zoo with large natural habitats with plenty of room for animals to play and roam. Amongst other wonderful animals, they had some lovely primates! I took several photos of one chimp in particular. Several years later these photos were used as reference pics for the sketch that became the mascot.
I’ve been in touch with FW Zoo and – although the chimps are no longer there – the primate team were able to review the photos and identify the model. He’s since moved around a bit, having spent some time in Tampa, and now lives in San Francisco.
His name is “Nick”, and it’s his 30th birthday on 10th December this year! I’m going to have tea and cake to celebrate!!!
