<em>A Failed Attempt at Maternal Training of a Birth Mother, the Subsequent
Human Hand-Rearing and a Successful Introduction of an
Infant to a Surrogate Orangutan Mother

By
Laura Laverick, Keeper II
Courtney Murray, Keeper III
James Sanford, Assistant Supervisor of Tropical Ecosystems
Kansas City Zoo, Kansas City, Missouri</em>

<strong>Abstract</strong>
In 2008, the Kansas City Zoo received a Species Survival Plan (SSP®) recommendation to breed two Bornean orangutans  (Pongo Pygmaeus Pygmaeus)  housed at the zoo’s orangutan facility.  The breeding was successful and fetal development was monitored regularly through ultrasound.  The next year, a female Bornean orangutan named Kalijon was born.  Even after months of preparation and a maternal training program, the birth mother refused to let the baby nurse.  Although the standard recommendation is to wait 72 hours before permanently pulling an orangutan infant for hand-rearing, it was believed that Kalijon’s well-being was at stake and consequently, she was removed after 30 hours.  For the following five months, Kalijon was hand-reared by human caregivers 24 hours a day.  As she developed and her needs changed, a program was put in place to encourage her physical and mental development, ensure her health, and maintain her orangutan identity.  During this five-month time period, another female Bornean orangutan housed at the Kansas City Zoo was selected as an excellent candidate for surrogacy and was trained to cooperate with staff in Kalijon’s continued care once the infant was turned over to her.  The introduction was a complete success and considered one of the earliest of its kind.

<strong>Preparation and Care During Pregnancy</strong>
In 2008 the Kansas City Zoo received an SSP® recommendation to breed TK, a 23-year-old female Bornean orangutan with Berani, a 10-year-old male Bornean orangutan.  TK had previously given birth to two other offspring at a different institution, both of which had to be hand-reared.  Therefore Kansas City Zoo staff knew they were faced with a challenge. TK and Berani were introduced in July of 2008 and instantly took to one another and bonded as a pair.

With her past infants, one born in 2003 and the second in 2006, TK was reported to be a loving and nurturing mother, however, she would not hold either of the infants in a position that allowed him or her to nurse. Despite being dam-reared herself, she preferred to hold the baby on her head or shoulders.  Shortly after the 2006 birth, attempts were made to correct the position of the infant by anesthetizing TK and repositioning the baby near the nipple, but each time she moved him back to her head soon after she awoke. After multiple attempts the decision was made to hand-rear the infant as had been done with the infant in 2003.

Keeping TK’s history in mind, TK’s trainer started her on a rigorous maternal training program within one month of introducing her to Berani in hopes of teaching her to care for her own baby or to allow keepers to assist her in caring for the infant.  Other challenges keepers faced included TK’s indifference to training, her short attention span, and a disconnection from keepers. She had also demonstrated a limited ability and/or inclination to offer new or creative ideas necessary to develop new behaviors. Unlike other orangutans, she rarely seemed to experience the “ah-ha” moment where what is being asked of her suddenly clicks and the new behavior is formed.  However, she was food- motivated.  By consistently doing short sessions at least once daily for the duration of about eight months, TK did learn eight of the nine behaviors asked of her.

In addition to preparing for the infant’s care after birth, staff also wanted to monitor the progress of the fetus during pregnancy. Therefore, at the same time that TK was learning maternal behaviors, she was also being trained for ultrasound procedures.  Keepers and animal health staff had great success meeting this goal and were able to perform an ultrasound on TK with her complete cooperation approximately once per week during the last 15 weeks of the pregnancy. A simple approach guided by her natural inclinations was used.

<strong>Ultrasound Training</strong>
The basic behavior for ultrasounds was present (the abdomen to the mesh), but some desensitization also had to be done with the gel, the probe, and the animal health staff. Due to the large size of TK’s belly, her lower abdomen could not be accessed even with her belly pressed to the mesh. Using an already established behavior, toes, in which she sticks her toes through the mesh, her trainer began asking her to present the toes gradually higher and higher, presenting a clearer view of the lower abdomen. The next step was to ask her to present her belly while holding the toes through the mesh about a foot or so off the ground. With one foot elevated, the only part of her belly she was able to press to the mesh was the lower abdomen.  Next trainers worked on holding this position for increased amounts of time up to ten minutes or so.   Five to ten minute holds seemed to be plenty of time for the vet staff to monitor fetal activity and capture still images used to measure growth.  In all, 14 ultrasound sessions were completed. The preparation and training allowed staff to acquire excellent images with minimal stress to TK throughout the pregnancy.

<strong>Maternal Behaviors</strong>
These maternal behaviors were developed to deal with an array of possible foreseeable situations and were taught using basic positive reinforcement training.

1. <strong>Feed the Baby:</strong> Mom is required to press her nipple through the mesh or larger portal while the trainer uses his or her fingers and warm water to simulate suckling. A small orangutan stuffed animal (the “baby”) is held up to the nipple to mock the feeding of an infant through the mesh.

2. <strong>Take:</strong> The trainer offers the “baby” to Mom through a six-inch round portal in the mesh. Mom is required to take the “baby” from the portal and hold it until given further instruction.

3. <strong>Get the Baby:</strong> Mom is asked to retrieve the “baby” from anywhere in her stall and bring it back to the front to her station.

4. <strong>Give:</strong> The “baby” is handed back to the keeper through the portal in the mesh.

5. <strong>Show:</strong> Mom holds the “baby” up against the mesh and allows the keeper to touch and examine it.

6. <strong>Bottle:</strong> Mom executes the show behavior with a hold, allowing the keeper to feed the “baby” a bottle of formula.

7. <strong>Other:</strong> Mom adjusts the “baby” by turning it around or over when holding it in the show behavior, allowing the mouth to be accessed for feeding or any other part of the body to be  examined if necessary.

8. <strong>Pump:</strong> Mom presses either breast to the six-inch portal in the mesh and allows a breast pump to be used to extract her milk.

9. <strong>Nurse:</strong> Mom picks up the baby and holds it near her breast to allow baby to find the nipple.

The nurse behavior is the only skill trainers were unable to teach TK despite taking several different training approaches. Although TK performed the pump behavior quite well, milk was never extracted due to the fact that the portal was not big enough to easily accommodate the pump and achieve the proper seal required for the pump to work.

<strong>Other Husbandry Considerations </strong>
After consulting the SSP®, animal managers decided to separate TK and Berani about 10-12 weeks before the birth of the baby.  Knowing that their separation would be stressful to both orangutans, it was hoped that an early separation would keep them from associating the experience with the infant.  In addition, keepers wanted to minimize this type of stress in the latter stages of TK’s pregnancy. The separation was also beneficial to TK’s training. She was able to focus better without the distraction of a cage mate during the sessions.

In the final weeks of pregnancy, TK was housed in a heavily straw bedded stall (one to two feet deep covering entire stall) and only moved for cleaning.  Two cameras with different views of the stall were set up in order to record the birth.  With daily enrichment added, she did not……….

<img class="size-medium wp-image-1780 alignnone" title="kalijon" src="http://aecetia.net/gws/aazk/wp-content/uploads/kalijon-300x248.jpg" alt="kalijon" width="300" height="248" />Kalijon just before her first birthday.
<em>(Photo by Laura Laverick)</em>