Breastfeeding mothers enlisted to help teach orangutan mother how to feed her newborn

LONDON -- The Dublin Zoo has enlisted a group of new mothers to help its orangutan, Mujur, learn how to feed her newborn baby and develop her maternal qualities.

A group of 30 women from Ireland’s capital city of Dublin and its surrounding areas have been welcomed by the Dublin Zoo over the past few months as part of it’s "lactation learning process," where they would breastfeed their infants in front of the then-pregnant Mujur in an attempt to teach her the process, zoo officials said.

“Mujur was extremely interested in watching the women feed their babies through the glass, even mirroring some of their actions,” the Dublin Zoo said in a statement. “Mujur was also shown videos of other orangutans feeding their babies as part of the learning experience.”

Mujur eventually gave birth to a healthy male infant last month on July 31, according to the Dublin Zoo, and officials say the lactation learning process had “some success,” as assessments of Mujur showed she was taking “good maternal care” of her infant.

However, Mujur was still found to be having difficulty putting him in the right position for feeding, leaving the zoo no choice but to make the “difficult decision” to separate the infant from his mother and bottle feed the infant.

Mujur, who is 19-years-old, has previously given birth to two infants -- one in 2019 and the other in 2022 -- but both ended up passing away not long after birth when the matriarch did not “exhibit the necessary maternal qualities," according to the Dublin Zoo.

“As is international best practice, we do not typically intervene in these situations to ensure conditions are as natural as possible,” said zoo officials. “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.”

Mujur’s infant is now set to make his way to a new home at Monkey World, a 65-acre institution in the United Kingdom which specializes in hand-raising orangutans and helps to raise infants who have been rejected by their mother.

Bornean orangutans -- found exclusively in the islands of Borneo in Southeast Asia -- are classified as "critically endangered," according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

“The Dublin Zoo animal care team is currently looking after the infant around the clock and bottle feeding him, and all involved are extremely proud to be playing a part in the infant’s development,” zoo officials said. “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.”