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The Family Of Orangutans That Went Viral For Making Friends With Otters Now Celebrates The Birth Of Their “Oranguson”
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The Family Of Orangutans That Went Viral For Making Friends With Otters Now Celebrates The Birth Of Their “Oranguson”

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It doesn’t matter what species it is, if it’s a baby, it will be absolutely adorable and people will absolutely love it! So brace yourself, orangutan baby news coming your way!

The Pairi Daiza zoo located in Brugelette, Belgium has recently welcomed the newest member of its ever-growing Sumatran orangutan family. Bored Panda got in touch with Mathieu Goedefroy, the spokesperson for the Pairi Daiza zoo, for more details on this joyous occasion.

Wanna see something ultra adorable? The Pairi Daiza Zoo just announced its latest addition to the orangutan family

Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

So, dear Pandas, meet Mathaï, the male baby Sumatran orangutan who was born on November 28th to orangutan mother Sari and father Ujian (if that name sounds familiar, he’s the orangutan who was recently going viral for making friends with otters). Mathaï will also be a baby brother to his other 4-year-old sibling, a brother named Berani.

The baby orangutan was named by his keepers. Goedefroy explained that the zookeeping team sat together and chose a name that they found beautiful and one that they believed fit the baby.

The name doesn’t have a particular meaning, though it is a name of several noteworthy people, including mathematicians, computer scientists, environmentalists, freedom fighters, and the like, so the name is definitely one of greatness.

Meet Mathaï, the baby Sumatran orangutan who was born on November 28th

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Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

Mathaï joined his family of 3, mother Sari, father Ujian, and big brother Berani

Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

The zoo is also home to another orangutan couple—Gempa and Sinta. They too are expecting a baby—their first—with the due date being 2021. This would effectively bump the zoo’s current orangutan population from 6 to 7.

Mathaï was born by natural birth, without complications and healthy. He now spends his days together with his mother Sari, pretty much having the time of his life, as explained Goedefroy:

“It’s pretty much eating and sleeping. Our teams are monitoring the whole family closely 24/7 to make sure everything goes well. The signals are very good. Mathaï stays on his mom by holding her hair, opens his eyes every once in a while, and is drinking well. For the first two years of his life, he will stay almost permanently attached to his mom, holding her close.”

Since birth, the mother and the baby haven’t separated at all and are spending their days sleeping and eating

Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

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Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

Now, if you weren’t aware, the Sumatran orangutan is a critically endangered species with an ever-so-slightly decreasing global population. Habitat destruction and illegal hunting are what have caused their numbers to dwindle rapidly. To date, there are a bit over 14,000 Sumatran orangutans living in the wild.

But all is not lost, as many organizations, including the Pairi Daiza zoo, are funding reforestation projects to restore the Sumatran orangutan’s natural habitat. And though it is a huge problem that requires great efforts in stopping and turning the tide of depopulation, each and every one of us can do our part to help out, as explains Goedefroy:

“The best thing you can do to help protect orangutans is not buying uncertified palm oil products. When going shopping, check the package of your food (i.e. chocolate) for the RSPO (certified sustainable palm oil) sign which makes sure no orangutans were harmed to create the plantation where the oil comes from.”

“For the first two years of his life, he will stay almost permanently attached to his mom, holding her close”

Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

Now, as you might have understood already, working with critically endangered species may turn out to be a bit of a challenge for many reasons, so we asked Goedefroy what is the biggest challenge of working with orangutans. He had this to say:

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“The biggest challenge with orangutans in specific is their intelligence. We share 97% of our human DNA with these animals, and so they are incredibly sensitive, emotional and intelligent creatures who need attention from their keepers 24/7. We make them toys, we make them riddles and puzzles, we hide their food, etc.”

There’s also another orangutan couple, Gempa and Sinta, who are expecting a baby in 2021

Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

If you’d like to help out, then stop buying uncertified palm oil products, but if you want to help out more, then you can sponsor the animals of the Pairi Daiza zoo here. You can also find out more about everything that they do on their website as well as their Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Also, we have already talked about this particular zoo a couple of times before, namely that one time when the zoo’s friendly neighborhood otters became friends with the zoo’s orangutan named Ujian, and that other time when the zoo gave its adorable inhabitants some zoo snacks to chow on for Halloween, so feel free to check out those stories as well.

Here’s the “orangudad” by the way, making friends with the zoo’s otters

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Image credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

Check out the video of baby Mathaï snuggling with his mother

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Video credits: Pairi Daiza Zoo

But before you click away to read more about zoo animals (or whatever you do on the internet), let us know what you thought about this! If you had the chance to name a baby orangutan, what would you name it?

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johnlouis avatar
John Louis
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Orangutan are morphologically are our closest relative (although not genetically - That's chimpanzees) They are native to the Islands of Burma and Sumatra. Their habitat is being destroyed to grow Palm Oil plantations. Please support efforts to preserve their natural habitats and their species.

sylvia-wachs avatar
sylvantic
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chimps or bonobos. People don't see bonobos in zoos as much for... reasons but they are some of our closest relatives!

Load More Replies...
gaellesimon avatar
Ryukei Panda
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The other orangutan couple, Gempa and Sinta, already had a baby boy, Sungai, born on October 30th, 2018. Unfortunately, he passed away a few months later, in July 2019. In the last weeks, the keepers and vets noticed that even if it looked like he was latching properly, the baby was really weak. They became really concerned and took him for observation. Baby apes can't be taken away from their mom unless they are both put to sleep, which is always risky operation. They found out about a severe jaw malformation and concluded it had probably gotten worse as he grew older, preventing him from feeding at all. That means he would need to be fed manually by his keepers. Unfortunately, he was already too weak and didn't make it, despite the vets trying everything. It was a heartbreaking news, especially seeing Gempa and Sinta mourn his loss.

gaellesimon avatar
Ryukei Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the Pairi Daiza friends here in Belgium are hoping that Sinta's new pregnancy goes as well as the first one and that her new baby is healthy! 🤎

Load More Replies...
manonm avatar
manon M
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it awakened my maternal instinct which had been on standby for fifteen years, it is an understatement to say that this baby is beautiful and his smile in heaven

johnlouis avatar
John Louis
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Orangutan are morphologically are our closest relative (although not genetically - That's chimpanzees) They are native to the Islands of Burma and Sumatra. Their habitat is being destroyed to grow Palm Oil plantations. Please support efforts to preserve their natural habitats and their species.

sylvia-wachs avatar
sylvantic
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chimps or bonobos. People don't see bonobos in zoos as much for... reasons but they are some of our closest relatives!

Load More Replies...
gaellesimon avatar
Ryukei Panda
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The other orangutan couple, Gempa and Sinta, already had a baby boy, Sungai, born on October 30th, 2018. Unfortunately, he passed away a few months later, in July 2019. In the last weeks, the keepers and vets noticed that even if it looked like he was latching properly, the baby was really weak. They became really concerned and took him for observation. Baby apes can't be taken away from their mom unless they are both put to sleep, which is always risky operation. They found out about a severe jaw malformation and concluded it had probably gotten worse as he grew older, preventing him from feeding at all. That means he would need to be fed manually by his keepers. Unfortunately, he was already too weak and didn't make it, despite the vets trying everything. It was a heartbreaking news, especially seeing Gempa and Sinta mourn his loss.

gaellesimon avatar
Ryukei Panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the Pairi Daiza friends here in Belgium are hoping that Sinta's new pregnancy goes as well as the first one and that her new baby is healthy! 🤎

Load More Replies...
manonm avatar
manon M
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it awakened my maternal instinct which had been on standby for fifteen years, it is an understatement to say that this baby is beautiful and his smile in heaven

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