North American Orangutan Population

Ibu has given birth! No other details (birthdate, gender, etc) are given other than the fact that the baby and Ibu are both doing well and are bonding.

Log in or sign up to view

 

As noted by @Smaggledagle in the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay thread, Malu the Bornean orangutan passed away. Per the zoo's Facebook post, he was euthanized today following a decline in his health:

"It is with a saddened and heavy heart that we share the loss of our 4-year-old male orangutan, Malu. Malu’s health began to decline earlier this month, and he started receiving medications immediately for his symptoms as he remained on 24-hour watch. A battery of ongoing tests including an MRI, and ongoing consultations with veterinary specialists in the area including neurologists, were unable to diagnose his condition. Despite every effort to save his life, he reached the point where the only compassionate thing for our dedicated veterinary and animal care team to do was to humanely euthanize Malu today while surrounded by the people who had loved and cared for him since his birth at Busch Gardens in 2017. Malu was a beloved member of our zoo family, and our team formed a very special bond caring for him and watching him grow from a tiny newborn into a playful and energetic juvenile, making his passing at this young age especially heartbreaking."

 

Gladys Porter - 1.0 Mango has been transferred to the zoo from Rolling Hills Zoo to breed with females, Dodie and Kade. This leaves Rolling Hills with no orangutans, I believe.

 

Is he supposed to breed with both? I have read that he is only supposed to breed with Dodie.

 

Sorry about that, that was more of an assumption on my part considering Dodie’s pretty old (for breeding) and they’ll probably want to breed Kade once her mom becomes post reproductive.

 

You're all good, I just had: "Move to Gladys to breed with Dodie" marked next to Mango on my document, so I was double-checking.

 

Interesting move. Dodie is 45, so imo is pretty much post reproductive. Kade will likely be the designated mate for Mango; she's now nine which is a perfect age for her to begin breeding.

 

No, I have a reliable source that states Mango will be paired with Dodie for breeding for the time being. Females have produced offspring well into their late 40s so Dodie is perfectly capable of producing another infant as long as she is reproductively healthy. The SSP does not recommend breeding females before the age of 14 so it is very unlikely Kade will be breeding quite yet. I think it’s likely she’ll breed with Mango several years down the line however.

 

Australasia is following a similar recommendation for orangutans and chimpanzees. Gone are the days where females were breeding at seven and eight. The rationale is females are more psychologically mature by their late teens; as well as acknowledging the fact females in captivity mature faster than their wild counterparts (due to improved nutrition).

That said, I’ve heard of several first times mothers aged 14 and over rejecting their first offspring; while several mothers of seven or eight coped admirably, so I don’t entirely agree with the recommendation and believe a comprise of 10-12 years would work just as well - to allow time for physical development. Adolescent females at Taronga have become frustrated around this age by wanting access to the infants of other females, at an age where their mothers would have been on their second or third offspring.

 

Isn’t Kade inbred though? And with a full male sibling I’d imagine that would be a better move for keeping the genes in the population.

 

Yes, she is. I'm assuming that's why the recommendation is with Dodie, and not Kade.

 

Tapanuli genes discovered in North American population:

Needless to say, this could have major implications for the captive population.

UW researchers discover orangutan genome mix-ups that could affect zoo animals

Spoiler: Article

One of the five animals identified as Sumatran in the 2011 paper turned out to be Tapanuli, which scientists wouldn’t have been expected to know at the time.

The Tapanuli was Bubbles, from the San Diego Zoo, a female that had eight descendants, some of which are still alive and in zoos, he said.

Spoiler: Article

That led Banes and his colleagues to discover additional Tapanulis in zoos in the U.S. and elsewhere, with studies underway in Europe. He plans to publish a report soon on the extent of Tapanulis found, which he said raises questions for the future of orangutans in zoos.

“What are the zoos going to do if 50% of their population now has to be taken out of the breeding program?” he asked.

 

Bubbles the Tapanuli Orangutan

These are her details:

0.1 Bubbles
Born in the wild 00/00/1963
Arrived at San Diego Zoo 15/12/1977 (via Phoenix 1964)
Died at San Diego Zoo 10/04/1995

Offspring:

1.0 Benny (06/03/1979) Alive (Zoo Atlanta)
1.0 Oliver (14/06/1980) Alive (Birmingham Zoo)
0.1 Bo (16/01/1982) Died 2010
0.1 Bella (01/07/1984) Alive (Louisville Zoo)
0.1 Unnamed (07/01/1986) Died 1986

Fortunately a relatively small percentage of the population will be affected given she only has a handful of grandchildren; but it will be interesting what further research reveals.

 

Were all these children fathered by a Sumatran?

 

Huh, very interesting news!

Of these currently identified animals, the three living ones were all sired by a sumatran male. Benny has 2 living offspring, one a three way hybrid male, and another that is considered a pure sumatran. Oliver has one offspring that is considered a pure sumatran. Bella is apparently sterile, with no offspring, and Bo never produced any offspring.

 

The article makes it sound like there are pure Tapanuli in the US now.

 

Yes, the Tapanuli orangutan died 27 years ago. The North American population contains at least five Sumatran-Tapanuli hybrids and one Tapanuli-Bornean-Sumatran hybrid.

That’s six orangutans who will need to be removed from the breeding programme, however this includes a 43 year old male and a 38 year old female who has never bred.

It’ll be interesting to see what further research throws up.

 

I'm assuming that may have been referring to the offspring of Bubbles..?

 

I would assume so as only Bubbles was identified by name and the implication is all her descendants are now hybrids.

That's not to say more hybrids won't be discovered and indeed the global captive population would be wise to confirm their population has no other Tapanuli founders. This will be both costly and time consuming, but needs to be done to ensure hybrids aren't being bred from animals which can live for 50-60 years.