About Author: Tanya Howard

After a few setbacks, Cinta is with all of the orangutans at the St. Louis Zoo (he arrived there in October 2012). Originally, the staff was planning on introducing Cinta to the mother and daughter there, hoping for a successful pairing with the older female. Unfortunately, the females had a different idea! While reevaluating the situation, the staff noticed that Cinta and Robbie, their 19-year-old male, seemed compatible. They were separate from one another but were sharing food back and forth and hanging out near one another. Staff never planned on introducing the two males, but they decided to try and then, later on, Robbie and Cinta could together be reintroduced to the girls.

This has proven to the best of solutions. Cinta and Robbie are now best of friends! They hang out together and share food. Just last week, staff put all four together with a much-improved outcome. ☺ Now, whenever there are any problems, Robbie steps in and defends Cinta (not that Cinta needs much help—he is much faster that the girls! Keepers are very positive about the improvements they have seen and expect things to continue to get better. We will keep our fingers crossed for a successful pairing!

Tanya Howard is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Orangutans: Planned Parenthood.

Here’s a fun video created for our digital ZOONOOZ, available as a free app from the App Store:

Our own introductions with Karen and Satu went with little of the issues we were expecting. Satu was excited to be with Karen and chose to spend nights with her, especially at the beginning. But a lot of the breeding behavior that we were worried about never became an issue. Karen would submit to Satu, and we had little-to-no rough behavior. Karen does have hair loss on her back as a result of her contact with Satu, but since the breeding has decreased in duration and frequency, we expect her hair to grow back in soon.

It was the girls that had to work out their issues. Orangutans are solitary by nature, and females do not interact with each other. With three females on exhibit, they had to work out territory and tolerance for each other. We have noticed an increased use of the exhibit by Indah, and anyone who has spent any time watching the orangutans can tell you that Indah has her favorite spot and tends to stay there. We are very happy about this turn of events, as it lets us know that she is more comfortable in the exhibit without Clyde in the area.

We can already see changes in Satu as he grows into adulthood. His hair is longer, more wavy, and forming dreadlocks. His weight is up (190 pounds or 86 kilograms now!), and his checkpads continue to get larger. He is becoming an adult! Fortunately, he is keeping his same, sweet behavior. He has father Clyde’s disposition. Keep watch at the orangutan and siamang exhibit for more changes to come with Satu.

Tanya Howard is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.