Denver Zoo Welcomes Its First Baby Orangutan In 25 Years

The Denver Zoo welcomed its first baby orangutan in a quarter century on June 19. However, the little one’s first few weeks have been anything but smooth sailing.

Just 11 days after birth, Hesty had to be placed in an incubator by the zoo’s primate care team. The baby hadn’t been nursing, according to the Denver Zoo, and even though the staff had been doing all they could to get Hesty nursing on her own, they found her nearly unresponsive and severely dehydrated on July 1. At that point, they knew the best thing for the baby was to put her in an incubator near her mother’s quarters so they could still see each other while Hesty received the care she needed.

Hesty almost doubled her weight over the next 18 days under the zoo staff’s careful eye, while her mother watched closely from her enclosure. Hesty was reunited with her mom on July 19. She still didn’t know how to nurse, however, so the staff sedated her mother and trained Hesty on the basics of nursing. She seems to have it down pat these days, but the staff is still monitoring the baby 24 hours a day, and are ready with formula just in case.

(source)