Step.- Some good news arrives for El Pasoans this summer: a Sumatran orangutan was born this week at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Garden.
This is the second birth of this species at the El Paso Zoo, which implies hope, since there are less than 14,000 specimens of this kind of orangutan in the world.
Seven years ago, in February 2015, Ibu –the mother– and Butch –the father– had their first child: a female named Khaleesi.
This Wednesday through social networks, the birth of the second offspring of this family that has stolen the hearts of El Pasoans was announced.
Because the Ibu is very protective of the newborn, the zoo has not yet named the baby as they have been unable to conduct an initial screening and confirm the gender.
Zoo staff helped Ibu prepare for another birth during her pregnancy, but the mother orangutan didn’t seem to need much help when it came time to give birth.
“Even though Ibu’s belly was bigger than when she was pregnant with Khaleesi, the delivery seemed to be a doddle. Around noon she was seen walking out of the exhibit and into her bedroom like nothing happened and to our surprise when we went to feed her around 3pm she had her baby!” said the Asia Collections Supervisor at El Paso Zoo, Griselda Martinez.
“The baby was latching on, nursing and has a small shock of blonde hair around the face and body. Ibu is an amazing amazing mom! We just love her so much.”
Khaleesi hasn’t seemed too happy since the birth of her new brother, something zoo staff had hoped for. The older sister has shown jealousy for the newborn on multiple occasions, in which Ibu had to discipline Khaleesi, reports station KVIA.
Ibu, Khaleesi, and the new baby can be found in the display yard from 9am to noon, then she’ll be in the outside yard with Butch. Once the baby is older and familiar with the exhibit, the orangutan family will be in the exhibit together.
Critically endangered, the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is one of three extant species of orangutan.
They live only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They differ from the other species of orangutan more than anything in their size, this species being smaller. They share the island with another species of orangutan, Pongo tapanuliensis, but their habitats are geographically separated by Lake Toba.
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