The Philadelphia Zoo welcomes the first Sumatran orangutan born there in 15 years

For the first time since 2009, the Philadelphia Zoo welcomes a new baby Sumatran orangutan, courtesy of parents Tua and Sugi.

Born to 31-year-old female Tua and 28-year-old male Sugi, the infant Sumatran orangutan is the zoo’s first birth of the species in 15 years.

The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered, and the zoo is calling the birth a “major conservation win.” There are only about 14,000 left on the island of Sumatra, according to the zoo.

Born on June 26, the baby continues to grow strong and is being nursed by Tua. The baby orangutan currently does not have a name and its gender is not currently known.

Tua and the baby might be able to be viewed from time to time by zoo visitors, but this period is usually spent in private in the mother’s bedroom space. The zoo hasn’t determined an official date for a public debut, but is aiming for the middle of August.

“Our entire Zoo Community and those that work closest with our orangutans are thrilled to watch Tua become a mother again and watch this baby grow,” Michael Stern, the Andrew J. Baker curator of primates and small mammals, said in a statement.

Tua’s last baby, Batu, was born in 2009 and stayed with her and Sugi until 2021. She was moved to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle to pair with an orangutan there and is expecting her first baby this September.

“This successful outcome is a testament to the animal care, nutrition and veterinary teams that have worked with Tua to greatly improve her health over the last eight years,” Donna Ialeggio, director of animal health, said in a statement.

In 1928, the Philadelphia Zoo became the first zoo to successfully breed orangutans and have bred 20 since. The total gestation period takes eight months. While babies begin eating solid food at about 4 months old, they will be nursed by their mother for about six years.

In the wild, Sumatran orangutans live in the forests of the island and spend the majority of their time high up in the trees, primarily eating fruits, leaves, and inner bark, as well as non-leafy vegetation. While they are the most solitary of all great apes, orangutans can be extremely social if they associate with others, which the Philadelphia Zoo said is mostly true for Tua and Sugi.

For now, Tua and the baby are spending time bonding away from Sugi. Once the zoo sees fit, Sugi will have a chance to join them if he chooses.

How many species of orangutan are there?

There are three separate species of orangutan: the Bornean orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan, and the Tapanuli orangutan, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. All species share roughly 97% of the same DNA with humans.

Just like the Sumatran orangutan, the Bornean and Tapanuli orangutans are also critically endangered. There are 104,000 Bornean orangutan living in the wild, and fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans living in the wild.

All three species are found exclusively in Indonesia and Malaysia, whose Indigenous people named the animal. The name “orang-hutan” translates into English as “person of the forest,” according to the Orangutan Conservancy.