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HOUSTON ZOO ANNOUNCES BIRTH OF ENDANGERED ORANGUTAN
Team of Experienced Care Givers Hand Rearing Female Infant
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A team of trained and experienced care givers is hand rearing a female Bornean orangutan at the Houston Zoo. “We were disappointed that the baby’s mother, Kelly did not raise her baby as we had hoped,” said Houston Zoo Curator of Primates and Carnivores Hollie Colahan. “However, we are very happy that Kelly and the baby are healthy. And we’re also very fortunate that we have a staff that is very experienced and accomplished in hand rearing newborns and reintroducing them to their mothers or to surrogate mothers,” added Colahan.
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Even with volunteer support, it costs about $5,000 per week to provide our baby orangutan with round-the-clock human care.
Please consider making a gift today to help support our Primate Department and the ongoing effort to provide our baby orangutan with superior care, nutritious baby formula, and "motherly love."
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“Unfortunately, Kelly abandoned the infant later in the day and refused repeated attempts to return the baby to her,” said Colahan. Concerned for the welfare of the infant, the primate staff made the decision to hand rear the baby with the goal of reintroducing her to another orangutan as quickly as possible.
Since baby orangutans spend their first year of life clinging to their mother, the hand rearing process taking place in the orangutan night house at Wortham World of Primates means the baby is clinging to her care givers 24 hours a day 7 days a week until she is ready to move about on her own. The baby’s diet is human baby formula. The transition to other foods will occur as she grows and matures.
The hand rearing process is taking place in view of the Zoo’s 6 orangutans. The infant’s care givers will be monitoring her for developmental milestones over a period of months that will indicate when she is ready to be reintroduced to either Kelly or Cheyenne, a proven surrogate mother. The care team will be closely monitoring Kelly and Cheyenne to gauge their interest in the baby.
Frequently Asked Questions
about the Hand Rearing Process
About Kelly and Cheyenne
Kelly delivered the first great ape born at the Houston Zoo, a female orangutan, Luna bela on September 18, 1997. At the time, Kelly was a gentle mother, but she could not figure out how to let her baby nurse. Luna was hand raised, fed and held by Zoo keepers and other staff 24 hours a day for the first few months of her life to mimic orangutan mothering. Cheyenne, the Zoo’s other adult female orangutan, acted as Luna’s surrogate mother, following a two-year period of introduction. Kelly’s second offspring Solaris was born in July 2003 and she proved to be an excellent, doting mother. Solaris is now 7 years old and seems quite curious about his new sibling.
About Orangutans
Ten thousand years ago, orangutans were found throughout Southeast Asia and into southern China. Scientists believe their populations numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Today orangutans are only found in their last strongholds on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Due to habitat encroachment and illegal logging, few orangutans, approximately 60,000 survive today. Approximately 7,300 are found in northern Sumatra in the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra while the remainder are found in Borneo. Orangutans are under increasing pressure in the wild. Threats to their survival include logging, poaching and the palm oil plantations that are destroying their rain forested habitat.
