Schönbrunn Zoo reports offspring in orangutans

A Sunday child increases the primate population at Schönbrunn Zoo: Yesterday at 1.30 p.m. the time had come and a young was born in front of the eyes of visitors, the oldest zoo in the world reported on Monday. The last successful offspring of the species was almost 20 years ago. The Tiergarten team is very happy, but we still have to keep our fingers crossed, because the initial rearing always harbors a certain degree of uncertainty.

“It’s the first cub for 13-year-old Sari, who came to us from Dublin Zoo in 2020. She takes good care of her little one, who spends most of the day sleeping in her arms,” ​​said the official zoological curator Folko Balfanz on the offspring, whose gender will only be revealed over the next few days. The father is Vladimir, the only male in the group: Despite his advanced age of 48, he is still reproductively active. Balfanz: “Vladimir and the rest of the group are interested in the youngest addition. But with the orangutans, the mothers take care of their offspring all by themselves.”

The great apes are on the brink of extinction due to the destruction of their habitat on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. “In recent years we have constantly modernized the orangutan enclosure to make it even more natural for our animals. When the two females Sari and Surya moved in about two years ago, a great functioning social group was created. We are delighted very happy that all these efforts are now bearing fruit with the offspring,” says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck.