|
The
zoo at the French capital's Jardin des Plantes (Botanical
Gardens) said Java, a female, was born in the afternoon of Oct.
17. It was mum Theodora's third time giving birth while dad
Banggi became a father for the first time.
As journalists snapped pictures of mother and baby on Wednesday,
Theodora cradled Java in her arms before putting her over her
shoulder.
"She's doing very well. She's suckling well. We're lucky to have
an established closeness between the zookeepers and the mother,
who directly came to introduce the little one to them,"
veterinarian Dylan Duby said.
"That's also how we managed to evaluate her general condition,
while keeping our distance of course, because our main concern
is to not influence the relationship currently being built
between mother and child."
The zoo said Java was the first orangutan born there since 2005.
It plans for Theodora to raise her before eventually sending
Java to a different zoo.
"We are going to wait about 10 years so her mother can finish
raising her and then she'll be able to go," Duby said.
Both Borneo and Sumatran orangutans, which live in forests in
Malaysian and Indonesia, are classified as "critically
endangered" according to The International Union for
Conservation of Nature, with hunting and destruction of their
habitat the main causes hurting their populations.
(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Marie-Louise
Gumuchian; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
