Critically endangered Sumatran orangutan born at Toronto Zoo

The Toronto Zoo family grew by one very welcome addition late last week, as a 29-year-old Sumatran orangutan gave birth to a son on April 8.

Both mom Sekali and first-time dad Budi, 16, were also born at the zoo and paired as per the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Orangutan Species Survival Plan (SSP). Sekali is also the mother of Kembali, another male born in 2006.

The zoo says Sekali had a typical pregnancy that lasted 243 days. Once the newborn arrived, keepers could examine and sex the baby fairly quickly, thanks to “maternal training.” The training involved teaching Sekali maternal behaviours with a substitute plastic cylinder “baby.”

The idea was to teach her to bring the baby up to areas accessible to the keepers to check on it and provide additional nourishment or vitamins.

Sumatran orangutans are considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN), with fewer than 15,000 left in the wild today. An estimated 120,000 orangutans have been lost in the past decade, mainly due to the felling of the Sumatran rainforest — the orangutan’s natural habitat — to make way for oil palm plantations.

In a release, the zoo says participating in the Orangutan Species Survival Plan and direct support of conservation work in Sumatra is “part of the Toronto Zoo’s commitment to ensure this critically endangered species will survive for future generations.”

“This orangutan baby is an important contribution to a genetically healthy Sumatran orangutan population in human care … We are proud to play an important role in the conservation of this amazing species,” said Dolf DeJong, CEO of The Toronto Zoo.

The zoo houses the only Sumatran orangutans in Canada and has raised 13 orangutans since 1974.