Dublin Zoo enlisted a team of breastfeeding mothers in a bid to help one of their orangutans bond with its baby.
The zoo's 19-year-old orangutan, Mujur, gave birth to a male baby at the end of July but has not been feeding so the zoo arranged for 30 new mothers to take turns to breastfeed their children in front of the pregnant orangutan.
Mujur previously gave birth to two babies, in 2019 and 2022, but the zoo said both died after issues with “the necessary maternal qualities".
The zoo asked midwife Lizzie Reeves to help and she put the call out for volunteers and was overwhelmed by the response.
She told the BBC : “Orangutans are known to mirror behaviour.
"Mujur had so much interest in the women, she watched them so intensely and started torecognise people."
She said the project was “a really good example of women supporting women, regardless ofspecies."
Unfortunately Mujur was unable to feed her baby so the zoo decided he should be bottle-fed and then moved to another location where he can be reared safely
A zoo spokesman said: “While we had been hopeful for a better outcome where Mujur could care for the infant effectively, we had also been planning for this scenario.
Hand-rearing the infant until independence is not a long-term option here at Dublin Zoo, so it is our intention to have the infant cared for at a specialist institution in the UK which is hugely experienced in hand-raising orangutans, subject to necessary health checks.
“Monkey World is a 65 acre institution officially designated by the Orangutan European breeding program to raise infants who have been rejected by their mother.
“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.”
