After 8 months of waiting, the Philadelphia Zoo is pleased to welcome a new addition to its animal family. Tua, the Zoo’s 16-year-old Sumatran orangutan, gave birth to a baby on the morning of October 2 at approximately 8 a.m. This is the first offspring for both Tua and her mate, Sugi, 13. The newborn is the first orangutan born in PECO Primate Reserve, continuing the Zoo’s orangutan breeding success which dates back to the 1920’s when the Zoo was the first in the U.S. to successfully breed orangutans.
Both mother and baby appear to be doing well. Like newborn humans, baby orangutans are essentially helpless, relying on their mother for care. Tua has been in constant physical contact with her baby since birth, carrying and cleaning it. The first 48 hours of the baby’s life were the most critical and mother and baby were closely monitored by the Zoo’s animal and veterinary staff.
Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction. The Philadelphia Zoo supports wild orangutans through its Footprints Program by partnering with the Kinabatangan Forest Restoration Project to plant new habitat for orangutans in Borneo.
To make a donation to Footprints,
click here.
To ADOPT an orangutan,
click here.