orangutans » Auckland Zoo

04-07-2008

Hiya
Yep we have our hybrid (Wanita) who is paired up with our 14 year old male Isim as one group. They share the larger exhibit with the male Charlie, girls Gangsa, Melur and Madju the baby.
Then the old chimp exhibit has our other male Horst, and Indra and her grown daughter Intan.
IN the long term we'd like to be able to have more space for our orangs and are hoping to also do major renovations to both enclosures, but nothing definite planned at the moment.

06-07-2008

Renovations would be good...

I believe the larger enclosure was built in 1987 and was the first one at the zoo to cost over 1 million and the smaller enclosure was built for the Giant Panda's in 1988..?

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06-07-2008

Hi Laloba,

Can you elaborate how it works in the ARAZPA programme for orangs? The pure bred Bornean (sub-)species being confined to NZ, the Taronga hybrids on a no breeding rec and all other zoos in Australia involved in pure-bred Sumatrans.

Is Auckland for its Borneans tied to the SSP or EEP (import and exchange wise)? Perhaps, at this point with 2 youngsters you do not yet have to move any orangs, but will in the next 4-5 years.

Can you brief us on how old each and every orang is at Auckland?

Much obliged,

Jelle

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06-07-2008

Wow, this site is awesome. I love the Orangutans at Auckland Zoo!

Here's some information on them:




Group One (share large enclosure with group 3)

Charlie is the doimnant male of the largest group. He was born at Singapore Zoo and came to Auckland in 1984. He is the father of Intan, Isim and Madju.

Gangsa is in Charlie's group. She is quite shy. She was born in 1989 and came to the zoo from Taronga Zoo in 2001. She is yet to breed.

Melur is the other adult female in Charlie's group. She was born in 1988 and also came to Auckland from Taronga in 2001. She has a 2 and half year old son Madju with Charlie.

Madju is the youngest member in Charlie's group. He was a suprise but clebrated birth to Melur and Charlie in 2005.





Group Two (use small enclosure)

Horst is the dominant male in this group and the only male! He was born in 1978 and to my knowledge has never bred.

Indra is the older of the two females in Horst's group. She is the mother of Intan and Isim. Indra was born in 1980.

Intan is the youngest in this group. She was born in 1989 at the zoo to Charlie and Indra. She is the same age as Gangsa.




Group Three (share large enclosure with group 1)

Group Three contains just two Orangutans. A male and a female.

Isim is the male. He is fourteen and was born to Indra and Charlie in 1994 at the zoo. He is the younger of Indra's two babies so he stayed with her and Charlie for a long time, therefore he is only jus starting to grow cheek pads!

Wanita is the female and was born in 1979. She is a bornean/sumatran hybrid and so not allowed to breed. She came to the zoo in 2001 with Melur and Gangsa from Taronga Zoo to keep them company and she is now providing company for Isim.





Another Orangutan called Dara was part of the original four Orangutan's who were brought to Auckland Zoo (Dara, Horst, Indra and Charlie) in 1983-1884.

Dara had a son Datuk born in 1989 (I'm not sure who the father was, probably Charlie!) who went to Taronga Zoo in 1995. He died soon after sadly. Dara's second offspring was born in 2000. The father was Charlie. Dara had septicemia following the birth and had trouble feeding the baby, sadly she rolled on the baby killing it. Even more tragically Dara died a couple of days later under anaecestic.

07-07-2008

HI Sam
I am impressed how much you know about Auckland Zoo's Orangs, may I ask how you know all this info?
All your facts and figures are spot on except for the fact that we aren't 100% sure who the father of Madju and Isim is. We are currently working on DNA testing to find out for sure.

07-07-2008

Jelle...
Sam has accurately given you all the info on our individuals but it's alot more complicated when it comes to breeding programs etc.
And yes, with Madju being a male we do have to think long term about what we will do when he matures.
We've always been planning long term and having to look outside the region to try and place our Orangs. Also it's important for us to make use of our valuable animals as breeders rather than "just for show". That is why we are in contact with zoos in America and further afield to try and find options for some of our animals.
It turns out that some of our females are really valuable to the programs over there so ideally we'd like to be able to make use of them but it's a long complicated process!

07-07-2008

Hi Laloba

I'm an avid/fanatic watcher of Auckland's 'The Zoo' programme and loved reading about your Orangutans in 'Tiger by the Tail'! I couldn't believe how different the lifestyle was for Orangutans at the zoo compared to in the 1920's!

Thanks for the info about Madju and Isim. I was wondering if Isim is being considered a possibility for Madju's father or will it be betwen Horst and Charlie?

07-07-2008

HIya, that's great but I'm sure that detailed info that you had on the orangs wasn't all readily available on the Zoo show or the book was it? THat kind of info is only really in the zoo records.
No Isim isn't being considered as a possible sire for madju either

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07-07-2008

No, I received an email a couple of years ago from one of Auckland's keepers who told me about Datuk and the information some of their ages came from a species list I was given a few years ago!

I have a great postcard of Indra at home which says on the back she was born in 1980. Indra is so cool. When she was in the playroom in the big enclosure (about 3 years ago) I put my hand up to the glass and she did the same back! So cool!

07-07-2008

Thanks Sam, that's really cool that you are so involved in the Orangs and take such an interest. I'm very impressed Next time I have questions about their history mabye I'll just jump on here and ask you instead of trawling through the records
Yes Indra is a real character alright! She is very popular with zoo visitors and more often than not will come down to the main viewing window in her exhibit and interact with people - she likes when people open their handbags etc. and show her the contents.
Is amazing how different her daughter Intan turned out - she's much more private and not really into interacting with visitors, in fact she pretty much always moves around covered by 2 or 3 sheets to ensure her privacy!

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07-07-2008

Wow, it is amazing how different Indra and Intan are! Just like Auckland's lions Kura and Amira.

Does the zoo still make those popcorn and honey cones for the Orangutans. I saw an enrichment demonastration at the zoo with those once and the Orangs loved them! The keeper had to go and get a third one though because Charlie took Gangsa's and ended up with two!

07-07-2008

Haha that sounds typical. Yes those honey cones are part of the extensive enrichment program we have for the orangs. The enrichment is on a four week roster with at least 2 different items a day so it works out they get a different combination of items every day for a month! It's quite complex and there are dozens and dozens of different things they get to keep them thinking and active. Funny you should say that Gangsa missed out because she's usually the one who manages to hog everything!

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08-07-2008

Wow! The enrichment programme sounds fantastic. I never knew how complex it was! I was wondering, do you have a favourite Orangutan/primate you work with?

09-07-2008

Well I have to be honest and say I love ALL the primates very much, each species is so unique and each individual within that species has their own special qualities! So I love them all. I do have a particular passion about the Orangutans though, they fascinate them and I think they are such amazing animals.
And although I have to say once again that I like them all for their different orang-alities, I do have a soft spot for Isim the subadult male - he's a real softie sweetheart who wouldn't hurt a fly. Also Madju is a fave because at this age he is so outgoing and playful!

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Man however well behaved, at best is only a monkey shaved.

10-07-2008

I love the Orangutan's too! They have been my favourite animals since i was about nine I think Isim's my favourite as I've seen a lot of him on the Zoo programme and for a long time he was the baby of your orang family at the zoo

I was wondering, Intan must have been about four or five when Isim was born. Did she have to become almost totally independant then or was Indra able to care for both of them. I wonder how Madju would react if Melur had another. Also I noticed Melur was a lot older at 17 when she had Madju than Indra with Intan at 9, what age can female orangs breed to?