Sumatran orangutan at New Orleans zoo gives birth to healthy male infant

Twelve-year-old Menari gave birth to the first baby without trouble on Christmas Eve and mothered him appropriately but had problems after that, the zoo said.

A team of medical professionals was brought in, including OBGYN and neonatology specialists who usually treat humans.

Menari was anesthetized and ultrasound showed the second baby was dead and badly positioned. The team was able to remove it without a caesarean section, the zoo said.

Orangutans are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Threats include hunting and the destruction of the forests and peat swamps where they spend nearly all their time up in trees.

Fewer than 14,000 live in the wild and their numbers are declining as palm oil plantations spread into their habitat, according to the Audubon Nature Institute, which runs the New Orleans zoo.

The baby was bottle-fed while Menari recovered, McLean said.

Mother and baby are behind the scenes to give them time to bond and to let keepers and veterinarians care for them, the zoo said. It said the baby was nursing very well.

The infant is the third for father Jambi, who also sired the babies born in 2019 and this year. He came to New Orleans in 2018 from Hanover Zoo in Germany. It may be six years or more before his next babies.

Sumatran orangutans are not weaned until they are about seven years old, and females have the longest period between births of any mammals: 8.2 to 9.3 years, according to the IUCN.