I think this is a very cool idea and it is based upon the model that animals learn from observation often young learning from their mother’s actions. Dublin Zoo has a 19-year-old orangutan called Mujur who has given birth to a male baby but she has not been feeding her baby. The zoo administrators decided to see if she would learn about breastfeeding and be encouraged to breastfeed her male child by watching women breastfeed their babies.
The zoo asked midwife Lizzie Reeves, as reported by the Evening Standard, to help and she put the call out for volunteers to help as well. The response was overwhelming. She said that, “Orangutans are known to mirror behaviour. Mujur had so much interest in the women, she watched them so intensely and started to recognise people.”
It was an example, Lizzie said of women helping other women notwithstanding that this was an interspecies example.
We had a maximum of four women a day. The chairs were all set up and there was safety glass between Mujur and the women who were breastfeeding. The first person to help us was my friend Nora and her baby, Elodi. Mujur gathered more bedding and sat up at the window with her head in her hands, watching Nora.” – Lizzie
Unfortunately, it appears not to have worked and the zoo decided that the young male orangutan should be bottle-fed and then moved to another location where he could be reared safely. Update: the lessons may have helped. Mujur showed good maternal instincts the zoo said. She didn’t know how to look after a baby previously. But this time around she looked after her baby really well. She was cuddling and kissing him and minding him well. However, she wasn’t able to position her offspring in a way which allowed her to breastfeed.
The outcome was somewhat predictable the zoo said. They had hoped for a better one but they had planned for this scenario. They plan to have the infant cared for at a specialist institution in the UK experienced in hand-rearing orangutans. The baby will go through some health checks beforehand.
The institution referred to is called Monkey World. It is a 65-acre facility where they specialise in raising influence who have been rejected by their mothers. Dublin Zoo added:
“The infant will continue to be cared for by the Dublin Zoo animal care team for another few weeks, before making the trip to his new home. The whole team has already fallen hopelessly in love with him, and it will be difficult to say goodbye, however we are confident that he is being sent to the best possible place for him to continue to develop and thrive.”
