The Sacramento Zoo has a new baby orangutan. Here’s how the newborn and his mother are doing
The Sacramento Zoo welcomed a critically endangered baby orangutan earlier this month, it announced Monday in a news release.
Indah, a 19-year-old Sumatran orangutan, gave birth on May 1, the first orangutan birth at the zoo since 1981.
The baby and mother are not currently out for public viewing.
Infant orangutan under 24-hour care
The baby is currently receiving supplemental care away from his mother and is under 24-hour supervision with animal care and veterinary staff. Plans to reunite the two are being evaluated, but there is no clear time frame.
Though Indah’s behaviors with her newborn baby were considered normal, the first time mother was having trouble nursing. Zookeepers and a team of veterinarians from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine decided it was best to intervene.
“Our decision to take the infant from Indah to offer care and feeding was done at a critical time for the infant based on intense staff observations and interaction with Indah and the infant in the early critical days, with an absolute focus on the health of the mother and infant,” said Matt McKim, director of animal care at the Sacramento Zoo, in the news release.
About Indah
Indah has been at the Sacramento Zoo since 2017 and was brought in to mate with the zoo’s male orangutan, Makan, as part of the Species Survival Plan.
Endangered orangutan
There are currently 79 Sumatran orangutans in human care throughout the United States, according to the Sacramento Zoo news release.
The wild population is at 14,613 and is considered critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Organization.
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