A 19-year-old female orangutan failed to raise her first two offspring, which eventually died. On July 31 this year, a new baby was born at Dublin Zoo in the Republic of Ireland. This time, officials tried something completely different to ensure the animal’s survival.
Because the female apparently had no maternal instinct and was unable to breastfeed either of her babies, born in 2019 and 2022, the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin recruited about 30 mothers to demonstrate to Mujuru (the name by which the orangutan is known) how to breastfeed their babies.
When staff at Dublin Zoo learned that an orangutan was expecting a baby, they were delighted because the species is endangered, but also concerned that Mujur inability to breastfeed the last two children.
The orangutan “was interested in watching women breastfeeding their babies through the glass, mimicking some of the mothers’ actions,” Dublin Zoo said.
The animal was also shown several videos of other orangutans feeding their babies to teach it how to do so.
Those efforts appeared to have paid off as Mujur showed that she was taking good care of her calf after giving birth on July 31.
Orangutans, which live in the tropical forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, are endangered due to illegal hunting and deforestation.