Dublin

Dublin Zoo enlists help of breastfeeding mothers to encourage female orangutan bond with her newborn

Group of 30 mothers took turns to breastfeed in front of the animal in the hope was that they could teach Mujur how to get her baby to mirror behaviour

Breastfeeding mothers were brought into Dublin Zoo in a bid to get the mother orangutan Mujur to feed her young. Pictured is Nora Murphy with her baby Elodi
Breastfeeding mothers were brought into Dublin Zoo in a bid to get the mother orangutan Mujur to feed her young. Pictured is Nora Murphy with her baby Elodi
Olivia Kelleher
Mon Aug 12 2024 - 06:00

Dublin Zoo enlisted the help of breastfeeding mothers to help encourage a female orangutan bond with her newborn.

Mujur delivered a baby orangutan, as yet unnamed, on July 31st at the zoo after her pregnancy had initially taken staff by surprise.

Zookeeper Anthony McClure admits that the birth was a little “bittersweet” as Sibu, the father of the new arrival, died in March, aged 44.

“It’s a bit sad but Sibu did give one last gift to the world. Unbeknownst to myself and the other keepers he managed to get a mating in with Mujur that we didn’t see.”

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[ Dublin Zoo orangutan Sibu - the ‘zen monk’ of Phoenix Park - dies at 45 ]

Breastfeeding mothers were brought into Dublin Zoo in a bid to get the mother orangutan Mujur to feed her young. Pictured is the baby orangutan, as yet unnamed. Photograph: Patrick Bolger
Breastfeeding mothers were brought into Dublin Zoo in a bid to get the mother orangutan Mujur to feed her young. Pictured is the baby orangutan, as yet unnamed. Photograph: Patrick Bolger

Mujur had previously given birth to two other infants, but she seemed to lack a maternal instinct and staff at the zoo had also been unable to get her to latch on for breastfeeding.

Mr McClure said they decided to bring in midwife and lactation specialist Lizzie Reeves, a midwife employed on the breastfeeding team at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

Ms Reeves organised for 30 breastfeeding mothers to work in rosters prior to the birth of the baby orangutan for an hour or two each morning. The hope was that they could teach Mujur how to get her baby to latch on as apes are highly intelligent and “mirror behaviour”.

Ms Reeves said she didn’t hesitate to help when the call came in from the zoo and instantly had a group of 30 women volunteering to take part.

She said the keepers closed off the orangutan house every morning for the mothers.

“We had a maximum of four women a day. The chairs were all set up and there was safety glass between Mujur and the women who were breastfeeding,” she said.

“A lot of women said: ‘Look, an orangutan doesn’t wear a T-shirt.’ So they whipped off their T-shirts and theirs bras so Mujur could literally see everything.

“The first person to help us was my friend Nora and her baby Elodi. Mujur gathered more bedding, sat up at the window with her head in her hands watching Nora. She was watching exactly what she was doing. It was unbelievable.”

[ Oldest chimp in human care dies at Dublin Zoo ]

First-time mother Nora Murphy, from Rathfarnham in Dublin, said she didn’t hesitate when asked to volunteer at the zoo. She thought that it would be a fantastic story to tell the now 10-month-old Elodi when she is older.

“You find yourself rooting for her [Mujur]. You are going from being a mother yourself to trying to help a mother to be. You would be talking to her saying: ‘Look this is what you are meant to do,’” she said.

“She would stare at you really looking at what you were doing. She was hand expressing as time went on, which was magic.

“Breastfeeding worked for me but I know it is not always the case for other women. I felt like I was passing a torch on [to Mujur].”

It was looking promising but Mr McClure said that unfortunately when Mujur gave birth she didn’t manage to breastfeed.

“She was doing fantastic. She had the baby in the right place but she just didn’t get there. It was a matter of positioning and she just didn’t have it, unfortunately.

“She did everything else perfectly. She was holding the baby and looking after the baby but the most important thing we needed was for the baby to latch on and feed. But unfortunately it didn’t happen. We gave it every opportunity.”

Zookeepers ultimately made the decision to bottle feed as although Mujur was cleaning and nurturing the baby, she couldn’t get him down on to the breast to start latching.

The baby is now being hand raised and is thriving. In the next few weeks he will be collected and brought to the Monkey World nursery for apes in the UK.

“We are nurturing him to a point where he is big and strong. He is taking his bottles every hour and a half. The weight is going on him. He has a grand set of lungs on him.”

Meanwhile, Niamh McGill, a vet at Dublin Zoo, said the birth of the yet to be named baby was a very important event.

“Orangutans are critically endangered in the wild. We know they have low reproductive rates, with the female only giving birth every three to five years. So this is a hugely significant occasion,” she said.

Ms McGill, who gave birth herself earlier this year, said she could empathise with some of the issues Mujur was experiencing.

“I myself had a lactation consultant on both of my children. It is not easy. Mothers can really relate to Mujur on a personal level,” she said.