Cinta Back with the Siamang Family
Posted at 2:23 pm February 29, 2008 by Juan Fernandez
Cinta and young Karim-Alam
Going back to March 5, 2004, little Sumatran orangutan Cinta was born to 22-year-old Indah. Until then, all was cooperative between the siamang family and Indah. (Orangutans and siamangs share exhibit space at Absolutely Apes at the San Diego Zoo.) Siamang Unkie, our breeding male, became persistently aggressive toward Cinta from the day he was born. Although we tried reintroducing Cinta and Indah back to the siamang family group several times over the last four years, all resulted in altercations and were unsuccessful.
Although it would not be uncommon for a mature male siamang to practice infanticide with his own species in the wild, it was a new concept to be considered in this atypical mixed-species social setting. Even though siamangs and orangutan are completely different species, they are occupying one common territory that is exhibit space. Was Cinta, an unrelated newborn in an already established social group, viewed as future competition? We don’t really know.
Cinta with mom, Indah; Eloise with Karim-Alam
Cinta, who turns four on March 5, 2008, and has grown to a whopping 31 pounds (14 kilograms) or about the same size as our adult siamangs, was allowed to spend time with the siamang family off exhibit. A hallway that separates the two species became Cinta’s playgroup. This allowed him to move back and forth between his mom’s room and the siamang family at his own determination. These daily interactions continued several days during the week and lasted for about a month. Cinta became more and more comfortable and spent an increasing amount of time building a relationship with the siamang group on his own accord. Once keepers and the staff were confident that Cinta was ready to meet the siamang family in full contact, we set a date.
Karen with a young siamang
On January 2, 2008, keepers shifted three male and three female orangutans, including Indah and Cinta, onto exhibit as usual. The next step was to shift Unkie’s oldest offspring, Hitam Lucu. This was key. Having Hitam Lucu on exhibit without the other siamangs gave Cinta more confidence to explore the exhibit and have one-on-one interaction with Hitam Lucu. After a few hours with no altercations between Cinta and Hitam Lucu, the rest of the siamang family was allowed to go out. This process was repeated for a few more days. Each day we decreased the time intervals between when we put Hitam Lucu and the siamang family back together. This increased the time they spent grooming each other after the controlled separation, resulting in less time focusing their attention and aggressions on Cinta after they were all on exhibit. This was the secret to their success.
Today you can watch Cinta tumbling around with his two new siamang friends: four-year-old Hitam Lucu and one-year-old sibling Karim-Alam at our Absolutely Apes Exhibit.
Juan Fernandez is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
Read his previous blog, Growing Up Siamang.
Watch the orangutans and siamangs daily on Ape Cam…
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February 29th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I was wondering why Cinta wasn’t on exhibit all day long. Now I know!
By the way, paragraph 4 – that’s January 2, 2008, not 2004, right?
Moderator’s note: Thanks for the heads-up! Correction has been made.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Is Unkie, the simian who attached Cinta, still part of this multi-species group?
Congratulations on the successful integration – a result of your carefully planned and executed transitions/
February 29th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
How wonderful! Little Cinta now has two hyperactive siamang playmates. Cinta is such a sweet animal. I have been wondering if he has given indications of missing his grandmother, Josephine. Please give us an update on the matter.
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Hi Juan, – Great job getting Cinta back with the siamang clan. We missed seeing him. By the way, has Cinta shown any bonding toward Clyde since losing his dear Josephine?
We noticed feisty Lucu mimicking the orangutans, by entertaining the visitors with some high speed running towards the viewing window, twirling, rolling and tumbling and then running back down the hill. Lots of fun to watch.
For certain, there’s never a dull moment when the whole gang is out and about. Absolutely Apes is our first stop upon arrival, and we always stop by again when exiting the Zoo.
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 pm
We saw Cinta playing with three siamangs (Unkie and the two young ones) today. It was so entertaining. He rolled and tumbled with them as they hung on to his long, red hair. An adorable sight. But I was surprised to see Unkie so involved in the play. In the past he hung out with Eloise while his youngest rough housed with Satu, the orang. He did not seem to be involved in the rough and tumble with his offspring. When will Cinta’s birthday be celebrated? What is planned for his big day?
The bonobos had a wonderful birthday celebration today with hats, popcorn, masks, rolls of paper. They had a great time and it was so much fun to watch. They decorated the entire exhibit. Quite a crowd of observers.
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
My wife and I stopped by today to visit with the Orangutans and Siamangs and Cinta looked like he was having a ball with everyone especially with Karim-Alam.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Cinta will be turning four on March 5, 2008. We are likely to celebrate his birthday this Saturday first thing in the morning, a celebration similar to that of the bonobos this week. Gorillas will be having a similar birthday celebration since the two young boys Ekuba and Boendje will be turning 2 on March 5 and 14. See Juan’s blog about their births, New Troop Members http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/new-troop-members/
In regard to the orangutans missing Josephine: there was a period of time when they all missed her presence. Each one took a moment of starring at her bedroom, maybe to see if she was there? This went on for several days. Surely they miss her as we all do.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Juan, thanks for the updates about the upcoming birthday celebrations, and especially about the Orangatans reaction to Josephine being gone from their midst. As the matriarch of the family, she must be sorely missed. Hopefully Cinta’s new friendship with the Simang youngsters has helped ease his loss. It also give the whole troop something else to think about and participate in and take their minds off of who is missing.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CINTA! We plan to be there Saturday at 9 AM for the big event. Please let us know any change in time, date.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Yeah! Party for Cinta tomorrow! We went to the Bonobo party and that was fun.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Hello – A while back I remember there being some controversy over whether or not to interbreed Sumatran and Bornean Orangs….. is interbreeding still discouraged or has the need for genetic diversity made it necessary? How do you prevent your Orangs from interbreeding? I am a community college professor and we have an OLD article in our Gen Bio lab notebook about this and I am just trying to update it. Thanks!
March 9th, 2008 at 9:02 am
What a party! Both the orangs/siamangs and their adoring public loved it. I am still laughing at the memories of Cinta swinging on his pinata/wearing it on his head; Karim-Alam running throught the exhibit with colorful streamers in each hand/wrapping herself in them; Satu and Karen, in turn, trying to reach and pull down the ” Happy Birthday” banner using sticks of various lengths; Clyde finally reaching up (without a stick) and pulling down one of the streamers attached to the banner. They are such a treat to watch. The zoo videographer should have been there. It would be great to post all this activity on the website.
Great enrichment for them. Hours and hours of fun for them and us. I hope you will consider a similar party for Satu whose birthday is coming up soon.
I do have one question. Where they successful in pulling down the ” Happy Birthday” banner?
March 13th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Karen is so good with baby siamang..I was wondering if either
Karen or Janey have had any offspring.
Their birthday party was great….a good time was had by ape and human.
Do most of the troupe have a favorite keeper?
April 21st, 2008 at 5:44 pm
To Juan it is great Cinta an and Karim are geting along i hope Indah is not acting up email me back