There was another pregnancy after that one which tragically ended in a stillbirth. I don't believe further attempts will be made to breed from Kluet and Karta. Presently, Kluet and Karta live separately from Puspa and they take turns in having access to the exhibit. I would be extremely surprised if any breeding is to take place at Adelaide unless another female is brought in, and that would probably require more space.
I've never understood the logic of bringing over Puspa from Perth. She's always been an antisocial orang, and while she did a good job of raising her only offspring, she does suffer from keeping weight on. Was there any plan on breeding Kluet and Puspa? Unfortunately Karta has been a lost cause for some time, probably largely due to being hand-reared. Adelaide should have imported an unrelated female (ie. outside the region rather than from Perth) for Kluet. Karta seems to get on well with other orangs so they could potentially have kept the females together. If this was the plan with Puspa then they should have realised, looking at her previous history, it was never going to work.
I've never understood the logic either. Apparently it was intended for her to breed with Kluet, but she seemed a strange choice considering her history. I've heard it said many times that Kluet's genetics are the most valuable of any male in the region- yet he's not been presented with much in the way of opportunities to contribute those genetics. I don't understand it.
Having been born at Jersey( Gambar x Gina) he would be genetically unrelated to all other Sumatrans in the Oz region. Why doesn't he breed with Puspa? If she's antisocial they only have to be together during mating periods, or is there some deeper problem? Bringing in a younger properly-socialised female would no doubt solve the problem(and quickly) but possibly accomodation would be a problem unless one of the current females were to leave.
To my knowledge, and I'm not sure how accurate this is, their previous interactions have been quite aggressive. He is also very closely bonded to Karta and might not be interested in leaving him to be with Puspa. Even if they did get along, Puspa would be an unlikely candidate as she's older and with limited previous success in breeding.
Actually she reared her one offspring perfectly. However she has always had a slight frame, not easily putting weight on and this is an issue. If she did socialise with Kluet, even temporarily then I'm sure she would provide Adelaide with the offspring they have been desperately aiming for. Don't think age should come into it as Perth have bred older females without issue. Presumeably the orang studbook felt that a Kluet/Puspa pairing was a good match. What is the current setup for the orangs (I'm vaguely familiar with the out exhibits prior to pandas)? Do they have two seperate enclosures?
As for the anti social nature of ours truly - perhaps tetrapod - pointed out that she needs / wants a more amenable partner, it seems that the current genetic match is not the most ideal from her perspective. If till date they have not been compatible no amount of time will do it. It is time for a new combo and set of faces I guess.
Do we know if there are any other potential mates for either Kluet or Puspa (ie. not related!) in the region? I've discounted Karta as I don't think Adelaide should attempt breeding with her anymore. I guess Kluet isn't related to either the Perth or Melbourne lineages so potentially he could be paired up with another female. Does anybody know what the current situation is with Melbourne's orangs - breeding? And what is Taronga's situation currently - still housing hybrids?
Melbourne currently has 2.2 Sumatrans (as well as 0.2 hybrids): a breeding pair (male Santan born 1977 in Toronto, female Maimunah born 1986 in Zurich plus their 1.1 offspring (male Menyaru/Malu born in 2003, female Dewi born in 2010). The last birth there was Dewi. Taronga currently has 1.1 hybrids (Jantan and Willow) that are scheduled to be shipped to Orana Park (NZ) this year (they are currently off display, while a trio of new female chimps have taken up residence in their exhibit).
From my Australian mammal list (the only orangutans in NZ are the Borneans at Auckland): *Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) – Adelaide; Melbourne; Perth Adelaide has 1.2 - the male Kluet was born at Jersey Zoo (UK) in 1995 (imported in 2003 to Taronga), while the females are Karta who was born at San Diego Zoo (USA) in 1982 (imported to Adelaide in 1992) and Puspa who was born at Perth in 1975. Melbourne has a breeding pair: male Santan born at Toronto Zoo (Canada) in 1977 (imported in 1987) and female Maimunah born at Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) in 1986 (imported in 1992); plus their two offspring, male Menyaru born 2003 and female Dewi born 2010. Perth has a large number (between ten and fifteen), initially established with one pair (male Atjeh and female Puan) imported in 1968 from the private zoo of the Sultan of Johore. They were imported along with two female Bornean Orangutans (named Binte and Mawas); all three females bred at Perth but all the hybrids were exported to Indian zoos. Currently Perth only has Sumatran Orangutans. Atjeh died in 1996; the current two breeding males at Perth are Hsing-Hsing, born at Singapore Zoo in 1975 (imported in 1983), and Dinar, born at Toronto Zoo (Canada) in 1987 (imported 2004). All other Orangutans at Perth were bred there. Animals bred at Perth have been used for reintroductions to the wild in Sumatra. *Hybrid Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus X Pongo abelii) – two at Melbourne; two at Taronga Melbourne has two hybrid females, Kiani (aka Suma, born 1978), and her daughter Gabby (aka Kamil, born 1990); both were bred at Melbourne. Taronga has a male Jantan (born 1987) and a female Willow (born 1985); both were bred at Taronga. All of these animals are non-breeding.
Kluet, having come from Jersey, is not related to any of the females in the region( as listed above) Puspa is not related to any of the males in the region(as listed above) as her father was the first Perth male, Atjeh. It is probably more important that Kluet breeds than Puspa as she has many relatives at Perth while he has none in the region. Unfortunately Karta is also another animal with no relatives in the region.
From memory Suma was one of the famous twins born there. She is a straight 50/50 BxS hybrid. But I think her daughter would have been fathered by the current Sumatran male, which makes it a 3/4 Sumatran hybrid.
And Willow (sister to Wanita at Auckland Zoo) is 3/4 Bornean, 1/4 Sumatran. Should be this year that Willow is sent to Orana Wildlife Park. I wouldn't be surprised if Wanita is also sent down since Auckland Zoo are wanting to import Sumatran Orangutans in the near future.
Still no news on Funi, with the media hype confirmed as nothing but speculation. Still a chance though that she may give birth in the coming days/weeks. Who on ZooChat will have the honour of announcing this historic event? Whoever it is, please, please, please, don't tuck it away quietly under this general news thread for Adelaide Zoo.... I was interested to read this week, that the Edingburgh Zoo requested a female panda that had already bred before, as oppose to the majority of zoos that receive a young female who will grow into maturity at the zoo (as Funi has done). Funi was born 2006 and arrived in 2009. She has never bred.
As newcomers to great apes, Orana gets to keep male Gorillas and hybrid Orangs- at least to start with.
Though so far this hasn't helped Edinburgh as this is their third(?) year with no birth. I believe both Pandas at Edinburgh are proven breeders, though perhaps importantly, not with each other. Nor do I know if they bred naturally with the other partners, or if it was AI. All attempts so far at Edinburgh have used AI after no matings happened. Apart from the respective animals' ages, Edinburgh and Adelaide seem to be roughly parallel with their breeding attempts to far- that's unless Adelaide succeed now.
