Zoo hopes for the best, prepares for the unknown ahead of orangutan birth

Staff at the El Paso Zoo has been preparing for years for the new baby coming soon to the orangutan exhibit.

Ibu the orangutan is about five months into her pregnancy.

Zoo staff is excited and yet anxious that the 23-year-old ape will gravitate toward motherhood.

“She was raised by humans at first, by her keepers, then she had a surrogate mom,” said Griselda Martinez, the collection supervisor at the zoo. “They say the ones who weren’t raised by their moms don’t build that motherly bond with their offspring.”

Offspring rejection is a reality that zoo keepers are hoping won’t happen.

“We are concerned about (rejection) and that’s why we’re teaching her how to be a good mom,” Martinez told ABC-7.

That training began with wooden block painted with a picture of a baby orangutan.

“It has a hole here because we’re going to bottle feed when she presents it,” said Martinez, gesturing to the orangutan’s painted mouth. “But we want to transition to a stuffed animal.”

Zoo keepers actually started off giving Ibu stuffed orangutans. But, as most orangutans do, she shredded it to add the stuffing to her nest.

When asked if she was worried that Ibu was destroying something that is supposed to represent a baby, Martinez replied, “We’re not worried. This is a nuance.

“They have enrichment items and they like to rip things,” she added. “We just need to teach her this is the baby. She’s getting better — but she has her moments when she wants to rip it.”

Martinez told ABC-7 they’re encouraged by her behavior with the block “baby.”

“When she hands the baby to us, she’s very gentle. She doesn’t smash it through (the exhibit portal) — she lets us get the baby from her.”

The zoo staff is encouraging visitors to contribute to Ibu’s motherhood training by purchasing the stuffed orangutan dolls in the gift shop and donating them to Ibu.

This ensures that keepers have enough “babies” on hand in case Ibu feels the urge to rip them up.

There are only 7,300 orangutans in the wild, and are considered critically endangered.

According to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the great apes are the only ones found in Asia, and only live in the forest of Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo).

The stark and uncertain future of the orangutans leaves the El Paso Zoo staff crossing their collective fingers that the pregnancy goes according to plan.

“A lot of things can happen. Things can go wrong in pregnancy,” Martinez said, referring to instances of complications during birth arising before zoo staffers could intervene, being rejected by mothers, or born sickly, only to die months later.

But Martinez tried to end on a positive note.

“I’m hopeful,” she said. “She’s a smart animal, and gentle.”

You can keep up with Ibu’s pregnancy by visiting Ibusmommyblog.org.