LITTLE BOY PEDRO

This beautiful baby orangutan is called Pedro who was born in Samboja Lestari on June 17 2013, to his 17 year old mother Pretty.

Sadly Pedro had to be separated from his mother who was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) which is an illness orangutans can contract from humans and can be fatal. With heavy hearts, the SL veterinary team took this decision in order to protect Pretty’s newborn infant from  becoming infected.  Based on research on TB in humans, a recovered TB infected patient has a 10 percent chance of relapsing during the second year after treatment. There was no choice but to separate mother and baby and although our medical team were  clearly worried how a separation may affect Pretty psychologically, she did not demonstrate any signs of stress and in fact increased her appetite.

Pedro who weighed 1.8 kg when born is a baby with plump belly, very quiet and rarely cries. He was separated from his mother on the fifth day after his delivery, taking into account that he had received enough collustrum from Pretty, which is important to build his resistance to disease.  Infant orangutans need 24 hour care and Samboja Lestari Vets Agnes, Agus, and Anin are now responsible for taking care of Pedro each night and in the morning, Pedro returns  to the clinic  so that babysitter Sundari and technician Hamdani can take over his daytime  care.

Baby Pedro has shown rapid and healthy development with an average weight increase of 0.8 kg per week. He is now nicknamed Si Kentung (the fat one) by his caretakers because of his round tummy and his love for drinking milk. Pedro now spends his day with his babysitter in the Baby Nursery after he received clear health checks confirming that he was negative for TB – a big relief for all of us.  In Nursery, he has formed a very close friendship with another young orangutan named Yordanka. Pedro is healthy, bouncing baby boy who only cries when he is thirsty or when his diaper is full. This adorable boy also loves gently kissing his caretakers’ cheeks. We all hope that Pedro will grown into a healthy, active orangutan with strong forest skills, so that someday we will see him being released to his natural habitat in the forest as a free orangutan.