Orangutan Infant

Reintroduction

After 17 Days

Adding new information to the pool of knowledge Mandy Hester & Dina Bredahl

Think outside the Bucket!

This will make more sense by the end…

Hadiah’s Background

• Bornean orangutan Hadiah was not successful as a mother or surrogate with her first infant, Mahal, in 2007.

• She was 11 years old. Father interfered with the birth.

• Hadiah was hand-raised until almost 1 year of age, but her mother did take her back and even nursed her

Preparations

• Cameras for 24/7 watch

• Red lights installed in skylights

• Moved orangutans around so we could separate Tujoh, our male, from Hadiah weeks prior to the birth.

• Lots and lots of training

• Started 24/7 birth watch ~2 weeks prior to first due date- all volunteers and docents!

Maternal Training

• Space bottle (thank you Denver Zoo)

• Chopsticks

• Stuffed animal (amputees at first)

• Hug

• Reposition animal herself

• Leave it in crate

• Go get it, pick it up

• Separation

• Den/shifting

• Nipple present

• Breast pump (very limited)

• Wake up in middle of night

• Hadiah and keepers have a good relationship. She does lots of training with keepers and is quick to approach and participate in sessions.

Baby Arrives

• Hadiah gave birth to infant at 11:27pm on October 29, 2014.

• By the time keepers drive 15 min to the zoo, Hadiah has already cleaned infant and is holding her appropriately.

• Staff is sooooo excited!!!!

The Trouble Begins

• Hadiah isn’t moving around much, just lying in a nest for most of the day and night

• Hadiah has some tissue protruding from vaginal area which is a concern

• Each time baby cries, Hadiah moves her up toward her face and neck – incompatible with nursing!

• Placenta is still attached to baby

• Hadiah staying very still so baby doesn’t cry, not allowing baby to explore and find nipple

• ~57 hours had gone by without nursing

When Hadiah DID come over to train…

• When Hadiah finally does come to keepers, she is so protective of infant that keepers can’t utilize training.

• Things she has lots of positive history with like the space bottle and other types of bottles are now aversive, so Hadiah will not allow them to come near the baby.

• Humans come nurse in front of Hadiah hoping to show her the way.

In the Nick of Time

• Decision to immobilize Hadiah on November 1st

• Vet staff and numerous specialists are in kitchen, ready to immobilize

• Dina is attempting to call Hadiah over for hand-injection, and...

Nursing!?!

• Instead of coming over to Dina, Hadiah sits in a corner, puts her arms up on a ledge, and sits in an unusual position

• Suckling noises!

• Infant is suddenly alert and hydrated!

Home Free

• More nursing position observed (never saw suckling)

• Milk is dripping from Hadiah’s nipples

• Placenta becomes detached from infant

• Hadiah comes over to keepers and eats a bunch of food

• Hadiah moving around more, tissue dries up and falls off

• Infant looks good, keeper sees her urinate

• Everyone sleeps

• Woohoo!!!!

Not so fast guys

• November 3rd (4 days old) -no nursing observed. Baby rooting and crying.

• Hadiah moving baby up to face when she cries

• Infant is weak again; fussy; less bright

• Training is slow going and Hadiah is constantly using her “safe word”.

Immobilization Necessary

• We immobilized Hadiah on November 4th (baby 5 days old)

• Infant nursed during immobilization

• Recovered Hadiah by herself

• Hadiah watches us bottle-feed the baby

• Hadiah is super interested in baby- baby is our only training reinforcer

Reintroduction –same day

Bucket + baby + questionably large door/port with adult orangutan on other side + scrub brush = ONE CRAZY SITUATION

Reunited

• Hadiah kept baby on her

• We kept them in a small den so it was easier to access Hadiah and baby

• Still no nursing

• Fresno Zoo contacted us, gave helpful advice

• Keepers got 17 ml formula to baby with milk tube –one time

• Keepers sleeping on PW floor in case Hadiah woke up and gave us a chance to feed baby

• Hadiah still protective and not consistently training; still using “safe word” quite a bit

A Tough Call

• Time running out for baby to either nurse or get food from keepers

• Training not progressing fast enough to keep baby strong

• No nursing is happening (WHY???)

• On November 6th (7 days old), we immobilize Hadiah and pull the baby

Goal

• A Healthy baby that is mother-reared

• Introduce baby back to Hadiah in less than 3 weeks

• IMMEDIATE TASKS:

• Get baby eating, urinating, and defecating regularly

• Keep Hadiah in visual contact with choice of physical contact as much as possible

During hand-rearing

• 24/7 caregivers holding infant

• Howdy with Hadiah at least 6 hours per day

• After a few days of hand-rearing, Hadiah seemed to show a decreased interest in the baby

• Hanging out at mesh with keeper and baby less often

• Looking at the baby less often

• Not always interested in touching baby when offered

Intensive Training for all

• Hadiah

• Breast pump

• Getting up and coming over any time of night and numerous times

• Bring stuffed animal to bottle at mesh

• Milk tube, bottles

• Present nipple for baby

Intensive Training for all

• Baby

• Look for bottle nipple (near caregiver’s chest/armpit)

• Move down!

• Space bottle

• Milk tube

• Swaddle & face away from caregiver

• Taking bottle through mesh

• Nurse through mesh -awkward

Maintaining Milk Production

• Breast pump became aversive – Hadiah became sore

• Hot compresses –she held the towels on her breasts

• DOMPERIDONE – thank you Lynn Killam and Dr. Nancy Lung!

• Lactation cookies (yep, those are a thing)

• Lactation tea

• Gatorade, hydration!

Space bottle…or bottle on a stick?

This infant prefers low-tech

Observational Learning

• Hadiah watched all of Baby’s

feedings (during howdies) and

would stay for the whole

feeding –HIGH level of interest

• Hadiah saw this pattern: Baby

cried, keeper came with bottle,

Baby became quiet

Criteria for reintroduction

• Hadiah willing to wake up and come to mesh multiple times every night for training/interaction with keepers

• Hadiah holding stuffed animal for bottle on a stick for long enough duration

• Baby willing and able to take all daytime bottles through mesh (with bottle on a stick)

• Infant bowel movements –normal consistency and frequency

• Infant gain weight consistently

• NURSING IS NOT ON THIS LIST…

Second & final reintroduction – Nov 23 (25 days old)

• Baby put in food tub in small holding space –swaddled, sleeping

• Hadiah came to look at baby – would not touch – focusing on keepers

• Baby woke and started crying – Hadiah closed the door between herself and baby

• Keepers got baby back to sleep, swaddled and in tub

• Opened door, keepers left

• 15 minutes later Hadiah picked up tub and carried it into exhibit!!! (baby stayed asleep)

The introduction went on for the whole day

• Hadiah was carrying the tub/bucket around with her

• Hadiah laid down next to the tub

• At first she was willing to shift away for keepers to feed baby

Baby on the loose!

• Feeding time for baby: Keepers asked Hadiah to bring bucket to holding/training space

• While carrying bucket Hadiah accidentally tipped it and baby fell out!

• Baby started crying. Then screaming. Hadiah ran to another exhibit; keepers asked her to leave doorway but she wouldn’t let door close.

The moment we were hoping for…

• Hadiah wouldn’t shift away; and wouldn’t pick up baby

• Keeper asked Hadiah desperately: “Hadiah. Please. One of us has to

pick up that baby. CAN YOU PICK IT UP??????”

• HADIAH PICKED UP BABY!!! She held the baby away from her body and

upside down at first.

• After a few seconds she ‘hugged’ the baby.

They have been together ever since!

Bottle-on-a- stick feeding

Pleeeaase nurse…

• Continued bottle on a stick feedings – 9 feedings/24 hrs • Creative staffing

• Worked on shaping nursing position with Hadiah and baby

• Dec 8 – delayed feeding and let baby cry and see if they would try new things

• Showed Hadiah videos of other orangutans nursing

• Dec 19 – CONFIRMED NURSING!! (RIGHT side)

• Jan 7 – Baby starts nursing on LEFT nipple too!!

• We kept offering supplemental feedings for several months, milk production increased –tapered bottles…

What a beautiful sight!

We named

her Ember

Which means

bucket in

Bahasa

Indonesia

Introduced to sire Tujoh

Thank you!!!

• The orangutan SSP and many zoos were critical to success for Hadiah and Ember

• CMZ’s volunteers and docents are amazing

• Many staff volunteered countless hours

• Thank you! to Heidi Eaton, Eleanor Knox and Rick Hester for helping us write this presentation.

Questions??

Mandy Hester mhester@cmzoo.org Dina Bredahl dbredahl@cmzoo.org