Is Indah ready to become a mother again?
We have just been given the go-ahead by the Species Survival Plan for orangutans (a part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums) to have a baby with San Diego Zoo orangutans Indah and Satu! Indah has been taken off birth control. She was on birth control because we did not want her to become pregnant while raising her son, Cinta. Typically, sons stay with their mother for eight to nine years. Indah had been implanted with a device similar to Norplant in humans, so she needed a trip to the vets to get it removed. Just like with humans, it may take a while for her hormones to balance out. We are hoping that this time next year we will have a pregnancy or may be even a baby!
The siamangs and the orangutans get along for the most part. The assertiveness of the siamangs directed toward the orangutans at feeding times is behavior seen by researchers in the wild. We do see positive interactions with Indah and the siamangs. She shares food with them (and Satu, too!). Also, she has been playing a lot with Unkie, our male siamang, wrestling and wearing him on her head! It is really amazing to watch.
Even though our female orangutans have been hand raised, they are still wild animals. Their behavior is unpredictable, and, as such, we do not go in with any of them. There is plenty of keeper interaction with each individual with a protective barrier between ape and keeper.
Tanya Howard is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Orangutans: Change is Good.
Yay! It’s so good to have a blog about the orangutans! They are one of my favorite animals to watch on the web cam! Satu has changed so much since Clyde left the zoo and Janey seems to love grooming him any chance she can get. I look forward to Indah’s future as a mom and seeing a baby orangutan for the first time! Thanks for the work that you all do!
That is wonderful news!! I can’t wait. She is a wonderful mother. I was going to visit soon, but I think I will wait till she has her baby. Thank you for the update.
Oooh can’t wait. Hope she gets pregnant sooner than later. I miss Cinta and his crazy antics. She was a wonderful mother to him. I think Unkie has a Indah crush going on. Ever since Cinta left, he seems to be really taken by her again. Might have the same problem they had when Cinta was a baby, where he bit him on the foot. But I’m so happy you guys finally got permission to breed her. I bet your all on cloud nine as well:))) Keep the updates going. Love it.
Now I’m reeeeally going to be addicted to these cams! Orangutans are my favorite animal EVER!
Especially babies. Can’t wait!
Daisy! I’m with you, I’m addicted too! With the Condors having an egg, and waiting on the Polar Bears, weeeeeee, it’s going to be a fun year! Now I won’t get anything done switching back and forth! I’m so excited! Love your name by the way!
What wonderful news! Looking forward to following the blog as you –hopefully–share developments. Fingers crossed, everyone!
Great news! What zoo was Cinta moved to?
Moderator’s note: St. Louis Zoo.
I have a questions for the keepers.. hopefully they will answer. I just read an article on Karta at the Adelaide Zoo. She just lost her 5th baby around or after Christmas. Is this Karen’s mother? The picture of her looks alot like Karen, but they made no mention of her having any other babies other than the one’s she lost at Adelaide. Thanks in advance for any info. if you know. They have And any info on Cinta would be great, can’t find any info on him on the St; Louis Zoo page. They have 3 orangs listed Rubih,Merah and Robbie B. coming soon. I guess Robbie B. didn’t make it, no picture of him!
I thought the same thing too how much she looks like Karen! Can’t mistake a face that cute!
Karta is Karen’s mom and they do look a lot a like:)
Indah came to us from Adelaide when Karta went there in 1994. Cinta is doing well. He has formed a close bond with Robbie, the 19-year-old male. Introductions with the girls have been slow, but they are currently all housed together.
I have a question about Cinta. What would the purpose of putting two males together be? Wouldn’t the effect be the same as what happened to Satu, where his growth would be stunted being with an older male? Or is the plan to split the two males up later on? And Karen, I think she has the cutest face of all the females on display… and her antics are just adorable. She sure likes to stir the pot when she’s out there!
The plan never was to put them together, but they seemed to want to be together while the girls did not want to be with Cinta. The length of time they are together will be determined by them. We will just have to wait and see how Cinta’s growth and development are affected. The keepers have told me he is quite a bit bigger than when he arrived there.
Yes, Karta is Karen’s mother.
The latest information on Cinta is that he was introduced to Robbie, a male, and is getting along well with him. The next phase of the introduction is to introduce one of the females to Cinta and Robbie. Stay tuned! We are in contact with the St. Louis Zoo keepers and can update you again when we receive new information.
Karen is also old enough to have a baby – has she had any and are there plans for her to have one in the future? Could both Karen and Indah have children at the same time (not necessarily give birth at the same time but within a few years of each other so both would have offspring in the “childhood” age)? (I think Janey is too old?)
Moderator’s note: Due to Karen’s health history (she had open heart surgery at age 2), she won’t be having any offspring.
Thank you – I wondered about that.
This is great news. We all love babies
I love watching the orangutans as well as all the other cams. Thank you for the update. Babies are so cute.
Oh, how exciting! I’ll be watching for updates on Indah over the next few months. Blaze, one of the females orangutans at Zoo Atlanta, just gave birth via C-section a couple of weeks ago, and her baby is just adorable. Hoping we have our own little one to adore soon!
I was looking at the pictures of your ‘tans. What type are they? Also, I was curious about the comment on Satu’s picture that his “cheek pads and dreadlocks are filling out since his father left”…. Do males not develop the cheeckpads, etc if there is another dominant male present? I love ‘tans and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that SDZ will add a baby to their ever growing group of babies… One other question… can you do ultrasounds on Indah? Thank you!
Moderator’s note: Janey is a Bornean orangutan, the rest are Sumatran. I hope you’ve downloaded our free ZOONOOZ app for iPad, Dianna, as the February digital issue will feature our orangutans and discusses the changes in Satu. It’s really interesting!
This is not a behavior that Indah knows yet. She is wary of new things but we are always training and shaping new behaviors. This one is especially important with the hope of an impending pregnancy.
Hi Moderator, I don’t have an iPad..
…. is there another way I could access the article on Satu? Thanks! Dianna
Moderator’s note: A friend with an iPad? The orangutan story will also be featured in our new San Diego Zoo Animals website. Look for it on its home page starting February 2. It’s a really interesting article!
Will Indah be artificially inseminated or will she and Satu be allowed to naturally breed?
Moderator’s note: Naturally, naturally.
SDZ, do you all partcipate in the Apps for Apes program?
Moderator’s note: I’ll find out.
We are not participating in the program at this time.
Fortunately your timing had been spot on, a need so great that without it we would see nothing. Love grammmie
After seeing the news and hearing that several zoos have IPads for the orangutans to use, will our zoo do that for them?
Of course we don’t have cages for them to stick their arms thru to use the pads but if you try it, please video tape our gang having fun!
Guess there are music, art and animal apps for them to use.
I had come here to ask about the ipads also but see others got here first. I know I am putting my human feelings on the apes but they seem so bored when I tune in.
What kind of enrichment do they get and how often?
You might enjoy reading a previous post, Primate Enrichment.
Can you tell me what the fencing or metal stakes on the ground are for? It’s around some tree’s and I see it around some bushes as well. Thank you
Moderator’s note: Foliage protection.
If Indah goes into estrus will she be separated from the others?
Orangutans ovulate once a month. They can get pregnant anytime throughout the year. We are hoping for a successful pregnancy, so Indah will not be separated from Satu. If Indah does get pregnant, we will keep her with the group until the birth is close.
I don’t know if I’m correct maybe someone else will jump in, if not. Orangs are alot like humans. They have periods every month, like humans, so there would be no need to separate her from the others. They don’t have a heat cycle like a panda, lion, etc. Hope this is the right answer for you.
Thanks so much. They are indeed so close to humans!
soooooooo? Any funny business going on between the two yet? lol
I’m sooo excited for another baby to watch. Can’t wait!!
I’ve been watching the orangutans for awhile now. Both Satu & Indah seem so bored! Could they be depressed? At first, I thought the problem was with Satu….Indah was grooming him the other day & he after a few minutes pulled away & separated from her. Then, Satu kept repeatedly rubbing or scratching where Indah had been grooming-as if his skin or fur was irritating him. But, today I looked at the blog & read about Indah….so could it be “only” that Indah’s hormones are just being out-of-balance right now? I see Satu day after day just laying around..he has the look of depression.
As for the Cam Controller….do they report behavior like this….and therefore I just need to shutup & trust that any problems are being dealt with?
I just hate seeing the animals so seemingly bored….what more can be done to help them at least feel “satisfied” while in captivity? Thanks..I hope someone can respond to this. ~Dax
Moderator’s note: It is impossible to see everything that is going on from the Ape Cam’s view. The orangutans and siamangs are given a variety of enrichment opportunities both on exhibit and in their off-exhibit bedrooms. It is often easy to interpret animal behavior in human terms, but please know that we have wonderful keepers that are very much in tune with the animals in their care. In addition, there are volunteers at the ape exhibit to answer questions and more, and they would certainly alert a keeper if they felt something were amiss.
I just tuned in to the pandacam to see if they were both sleeping in their own part of the tree. I thought Bai had been to the fur salon, and her reddish tint went very badly wrong. If she must hide for the next few months I’m am sure time will fade that, she will be her black and white inside as well as outsides. Our warm California sunshine should speed up the process, so glad of that. Love grammmie
That’s funny Grammmie! Bai with a fur tint gone wrong. Lol. Nice to meet you here too!
That was really cute. They were just being fed and Indah kept reaching her arms out for them to throw it to her. I love watching them.
Nice artice Tanya in zoonooz, loved the pictures and video’s. But you didn’t mention Satu’s personality now. Is he still the sweet orang that’s silly? He looks so serious now, he still looks like a sweetheart,
Satu is still the same sweet guy – gentle just like Clyde. He is less playful now but still active in the exhibit. Now he just like to show his strength by throwing around the ropes and toys!
How much does Satu weigh? He is one big ape! Also, how long is an orang’s pregnancy and when is their mating season? I love to watch their antics!
Satu weighs about 250 pounds. He has been gaining about 5 pounds a month. He can get up to over 300 pounds (Clyde is 330 pounds). An orangutan pregnancy is 8 to 10 months. They do not have a mating season; instead, the females have a 28-30 day menstrual cycle. They can get pregnant any month during ovulation.
What is that big bald spot on the back of the head of the female siamong? Is it a growth of some sort?
That is just the way Ellie’s hair lays – kind of like a cow lick:)
I’ve noticed that Satu likes to hang over the tone steps that lead underground. What is he looking at/waiting for? He does this alot.
Moderator’s note: There may be a keeper working in the underground bedroom/kitchen area for that exhibit. They can be quite entertaining to watch!
I’ve always thought we were at least as entertaining to the orangutans as they are to us – just look at them stare through the glass!
Is there a barrier (gate, door) closing off the bedrooms when the keeper is in there cleaning? What about at night, i.e., do the orangutans ever leave the bedrooms at night? And during the day to keep them outside? (Although I suspect they prefer the outdoors.) At dusk I see Satu and one of the females watching the entrance as though they’re waiting for something to happen before they go in – I thought perhaps it was a door.
Moderator’s note: Yes, there is a door to the bedroom/kitchen area. The apes are kept in their bedrooms at night. You might enjoy reading a series of posts from a few years back that describes how the apes are managed. Start at the most recent one, Time for the Siamangs, and work your way back. Happy reading!
Thank you for this link – it (and other blog entries written about that time) answered a lot of my questions!
Just read your article about the Orangutan SSP advising you all that Indah and Satu can get pregnant and have babies. If and when Indah does get pregnant again, that will be her second baby. How many times has Satu been pregnant, or will this be her first pregnancy if that happens? Either way, that’s great news, and I was going to ask you about when you were going to have any orang and/or siamang babies any time soon. You guys just beat me to that info with this news! Thanks!
News about Blaze and her baby boy from Atlanta Zoo. Been reading the keepers’ updates about them over the last 4 weeks, and Blaze has pretty much recovered from her Csection and her baby boy has been gaining weight. With the formula that he’s been drinking, the little guy has gained up to 5 pounds by this week. The vets have been checking him regularly to make sure that he has his nutrition, growing, developing, and keeps on gaining weight like he should. His orange hair has really been growing on him lately. He will be one month old on February 10. The intros and contact visits between Blaze and her baby are still continuing, but on the slow side of things. They are hoping that Blaze will be able to nurse her own baby soon so that she can keep lactating, and that she will also learn the maternal skills necessary to be a good mom to her little boy. She has had her baby’s blankets in with her with the baby’s smells on them, and she will even take a blanket to the nest sometimes. So, Blaze does know her baby by smell and looking at him during those contact visits. Hopefully, with time, Blaze will be having her baby with her continually every day. Still don’t know the baby’s name yet, but will let you know when they do give him a name.
Just watched the apecam, and there was one orang sitting on the rods looking very comfy, and there was another orang that decided to do some swinging on the ropes for a couple of minutes before that orang decided to move on. Fun to watch these great apes! The only thing is that I don’t know which orang is who because they all look alike to me; same thing with the siamangs!
Will be back later on.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Satu is a male so no pregnancies for him! But I wonder how many he’s fathered (at least 1, Cintah)?
Moderator’s note: Yes, just Cinta so far.
Hi Chari,
I love reading the updates on Blaze’s baby. I was also reading that one of there orang’s has been a surogate for 2 others. I wonder if they will try her, if Blaze does not take to being a mother. As far as telling the orangs apart I think the more you watch them it’s very easy to tell them apart. Satu is the only male, so he’s the giant one out there, Indah very rarely comes down from the rods or poles.. she has a very pretty coat of hair on her. Karen is almost always in the front windows, she’s short and kind of bull legged, with patches of hair missing on her back. Janey looks totally different then all of them, darker in color, and very slow moving. The siamongs, the male is thinner, and the female is a little bigger with more meat on her bones…wider face. Hope that helps:)
Barbara, thanks for correcting me about Satu! Just saw his big self on the apecam a minute ago! At least he’s the daddy to one orang kid already, so when Indah and Satu do get together, and Indah does get pregnant, that will be baby no. 2 for the both of them! Keeping fingers crossed!
Liz, thanks for the descriptions of the orangs and siamangs. Should be pretty helpful. I did see Satu on the apecam, and he is a very big man with those very wide cheeks! He’s such a handsome guy!
Was just on the apecam, and I saw at least 4 orangs and one siamang on the cam either walking around or sitting and relaxing. Satu looked like he was munching on a snack that he found.
Gonna go and check on these great apes again!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Thanks for answering my question above moderator
Another question if I may for the moderator or Tanya. I’ve noticed Karen rolling and doing her spinning/twirling moves as she walks (which is absolutely hilarious and adorable) Now I just saw Janey doing the same spinning & twirling while she was walking. Did she pick this up from Karen or vice versa? It’s so funny how they immitate each other.
This is a behavior that I have seen Janey do. I do not know if one learned it from the other or if they do it just because it is fun to do.
Thanks for your response Tanya.
Wherever they picked it up, it’s hilarious to watch!
Hi! To great ape fans, more pregnancy news from Atlanta Zoo! Two gorilla moms are pregnant! Lulu is expecting her baby in early spring, 2013; Sukari is expecting her baby in late summer, 2013. Will let you know how these two ladies are doing when the keepers at AZ get close to their due dates. Keep fingers crossed!! Their great ape collection will be growing by 2 more babies this year. Momma orang Blaze’s baby is doing well, and contact visits are still ongoing with mom and baby. Liz, I was wondering about the same thing about whether the keepers will go with a surrogate orang mom in case the contact visits between Blaze and her baby does not do well after a few more weeks. I’m sure that they will make that decision and determination that direction as they go along with this.
Going to go back to the apecam and pandacam to see what these animals are up to. Little Xiao is getting adventurous climbing up and down the tree, and getting on and off that little platform!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
I can’t believe how fast Satu changes. Even since I saw him in Sept,
his hair seems longer. And what are those siamings up to???
Tee hee.
I think there doiing the hokey pokey!!
I’ve noticed that all of the females seem to be smitten with Satu and love to sit near him and that Janey at least, loves to groom him.
He tolerates it for a few minutes but seems to prefer to be on his own.
Can you tell us about some of the dinamics of their relationships with each other? Do all of the females get along? Do any of them ever fight? (I saw a minor scuffle between Janey and Satu when he didn’t want her grooming him)
I study them and sometimes wonder if they feel sad/jealous when one is getting attention from Satu as their faces appear to be sad at times as they observe him with another female or he moves away from them.
So many questions!
We have to be careful to not assign human emotions when we are observing the animals and interpreting their behavior. Their social structure is very different than ours, so their actions are not going to have the same meaning. Orangutans are solitary by nature and individuals do not hang out together and develop social bonds. Males only come together with the females for breeding in the wild. Karen interacts with adults males quite frequently, but this is an individual behavior. The males just tolerate it for a while before they get up and walk away. Females, for the most part, do not have much interaction with one another – they tend to give each other a lot of ‘space’.
ROFL!! One of the orangutans….might be Indah….is rubbing her behind against to 2 siamangs!! They seem to be ignoring her. What’s the possible reason for this behavior?? ~Dax
I did not see the behavior or actions before or after the event, so I am unable to comment on the ‘why’ of it. I can say that I have not seen that behavior before, and I would consider it unusual.
Okay, thanks for replying….it took me for a loop to see it