Like their adult animal companions, baby animals at Schönbrunn Zoo act as ambassadors for their fellow animals in the wild. This is because the greatest and saddest commonality remains the threat of habitat loss and extinction by humans.

"Conservation breeding is a central task of modern, scientifically managed zoos and aquariums in order to secure the existence of endangered animal species through reserve populations," says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck.

Kaja turned one this month, and his San Diego Zoo wildlife team threw him and his mother a big celebration to mark the occasion. This festive moment is significant, considering the life and death scare that engulfed the pair following his birth last year.

In late October, UK’s Paignton Zoo revealed the exciting news that they had welcomed a male baby orang-utan. Mother and baby have been off-show to visitors whilst they settle in and bond but now they both can be seen by visitors in their Ape House.

The baby was born to mother Chinta, a 32-year-old Bornean orang-utan, and father Wousan who is 14 years old, on 24 October 2022.

In the 270th anniversary year, the Schönbrunn Zoo was able to look forward to numerous special offspring. In addition to the arctic wolves, the capybaras and the zebras, the king and rockhopper penguins and the maned seals also provided for offspring. Even the extremely rare Mhorr gazelle, which is threatened with extinction, had two young in 2022. “Two more squirrel monkeys were born in the last few weeks – so they are our latest offspring. Our breeding highlights of the year are certainly the young orangutans, giraffes and now, once again, the koalas," says zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck.

On May 7, 2022 the Topeka Zoo welcomed their newest addition. A critically endangered Bornean Orangutan named Udara, the Malay word for "air." Use #HelloUdara to follow along, or visit topekazoo.org/hellobaby. You can also follow along on the zoo’s social media platforms.

SAN DIEGO (Aug. 19, 2022) – On International Orangutan Day (Aug. 19), wildlife care team members at the San Diego Zoo celebrated two of the Zoo’s prominent primate residents: Kaja, a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan infant; and his mother, Indah. Following major health complications that left Indah hospitalized after giving birth, wildlife care specialists jumped in to care for Kaja and help nurture him during the critical early weeks of his life.  Due to quick intervention, both mother and infant are now doing well, and have since been reunited.

Albuquerque BioPark’s Baby Bulan is just over 2 months old and it's time for his first well baby check! Learn from animal care staff how they are able to help keep the youngest animals in their care healthy.

Previously on ZooBorns: https://youtu.be/LVJMWQdotB0

Sekali Meeting Dad Budi For The First Time

At one-month-old, Toronto Zoo’s newest orangutan was becoming more alert to his surroundings, including making eye contact with the Wildlife Care team. Mom Sekali participated in regular training sessions and was comfortable bringing the baby up to Keepers and allowing them to use a dropper to place Vitamin D drops directly in his mouth. Once this behaviour was completely established, Keepers planned to introduce a baby bottle; this could be helpful in the future if they need to give the baby Pedialyte or medications in a liquid form, or if supplemental milk is required.

Germany’s Zoo Rostock Orangutan Hsiao-Ning gave birth to an infant on June 15th. It's her second baby boy after older brother Niah.

The newborn Bornean Orangutan still needs a name. His caretakers have chosen five names and you can now vote for your favorite:

www.zoo-rostock.de/namegesucht

Voting is still running until the 22nd. July 2022.

The little man is in great health.

Beginning Wednesday, June 30, San Diego Zoo wildlife care specialists are giving Indah and her infant, Kaja, access to the orangutan habitat to help acclimate to the area. The pair have been spending time together in their indoor habitat, but this is the next step in preparing for them to join the troop.

These sessions will begin before the Zoo is open to guests. If Indah and Kaja choose to stay in the habitat after 9 a.m., they may be viewable to guests. Wildlife care specialists will continue to give Indah and Kaja access to the habitat for the next few weeks and will observe their behaviors.

Orangutan birth announcement, Jan. 2022:

https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2022/01/san-diego-zoo-celebrates-the-birth-of-a-critically-endangered-sumatran-orangutan-infant.html