Brownsville, Texas (August 8, 2023) – Gladys Porter Zoo employees are thrilled to announce that Dodie, the Zoo’s 46-year-old Sumatran orangutan, gave beginning to a wholesome child lady on July 19 at 3:00 a.m. Each mother and child are doing properly. Presently, they are often seen collectively on exhibit between 9:00 and 10:30 am. Their time open air will probably be progressively elevated because the new child adapts to out of doors temperatures.
That is Dodie’s fourth child. She is an skilled and attentive mom so she simply transitioned into her new maternal duties. The daddy is Mango, a 31-year-old Sumatran orangutan who got here to us on a breeding mortgage from the Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, Kansas. Dodie can also be the mom of Kade, an adolescent feminine, who presently resides right here with Dodie, Mango and the brand new child.
For now, as Dodie and her offspring are establishing a powerful bond, Kade has quickly been restricted from full entry to the infant. Within the coming days, employees will progressively permit Kade to get totally acquainted, giving her a guarded alternative to step into her essential new function as massive sister.
“Kade, like many kids, confirmed a little bit of jealousy when Dodie first gave beginning,” stated Walter DuPree, the Zoo’s Curator of Mammals. “So, we had been a little bit involved about giving her full entry to her mom and the toddler. We didn’t see aggression, however had been involved about mischief. Kade now appears to be adjusting to the arrival of her little sister, and it shouldn’t be lengthy earlier than Dodie, Kade, and the infant will probably be a household unit.”
Within the wild, feminine adolescents will assist their moms take care of younger. Within the course of, they study essential maternal abilities which are of nice profit once they later have to lift their very own infants. Orangutans are a few of the most devoted moms within the animal kingdom. Within the wild, younger orangutans will stick with their moms for as much as seven years, as they study the talents they should survive on their very own. This contains the place to seek out meals, how one can construct nests, and how one can increase younger.
The Gladys Porter Zoo has had an extended historical past with orangutans. In its 52-year historical past, there have been 25 profitable orangutan births. The Zoo was the primary on report to carry out a cesarean part on an incredible ape. The historic process was executed on a feminine orangutan in 1970 by a neighborhood obstetrician and the late Don Farst, DVM, the Zoo’s earlier veterinarian, after which, director.
Sumatran orangutans are listed as Critically Endangered by the Worldwide Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Purple Listing of Threatened Species. Their largest menace is habitat loss due large-scale conversion of forest to palm oil plantations, industrial logging, and farming.
