Siamang Infant Nursing
When primate keepers at the orangutan and siamang habitat arrived for work on November 12, 2018, they didn’t know that by day’s end, they would have one more charge in their care.
The Zoo’s siamangs Unkie and Eloise (Ellie for short) had previously made a significant contribution to the population in managed care of this endangered species: they had successfully raised five female offspring over the years. With Ellie on contraception, their reproductive years had come to a close.
Or so the animal care staff thought. Contraception is not 100 percent assured, and that day, Ellie was quietly and calmly cradling a new infant. And not just any infant, but the smallest siamang the keepers had ever seen. Keepers kept a close eye on Ellie and the newborn in the warmth and humidity of the siamang bedrooms. “Usually, a siamang infant can cling to its mom within a day or two, and can find a nipple on its own. But this infant wasn’t as strong as she should have been,” says Tanya Howard, senior keeper. Fortunately, because she was an experienced and capable mother, “Ellie positioned the baby on her nipple,” says Julie Krajewski, senior keeper. “She is an excellent mom. That’s something a first-time mom might not do.”
Read the full story: sdzoo.com/TinySurvivor
Siamang Infant Nursing
When primate keepers at the orangutan and siamang habitat arrived for work on November 12, 2018, they didn’t know that by day’s end, they would have one more charge in their care.
The Zoo’s siamangs Unkie and Eloise (Ellie for short) had previously made a significant contribution to the population in managed care of this endangered species: they had successfully raised five female offspring over the years. With Ellie on contraception, their reproductive years had come to a close.
Or so the animal care staff thought. Contraception is not 100 percent assured, and that day, Ellie was quietly and calmly cradling a new infant. And not just any infant, but the smallest siamang the keepers had ever seen. Keepers kept a close eye on Ellie and the newborn in the warmth and humidity of the siamang bedrooms. “Usually, a siamang infant can cling to its mom within a day or two, and can find a nipple on its own. But this infant wasn’t as strong as she should have been,” says Tanya Howard, senior keeper. Fortunately, because she was an experienced and capable mother, “Ellie positioned the baby on her nipple,” says Julie Krajewski, senior keeper. “She is an excellent mom. That’s something a first-time mom might not do.”
Read the full story: sdzoo.com/TinySurvivor