What Happened When An Orangutan Mother And Her Baby Were Reunited
Reunion
Rescuers at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Centre in Borneo had the responsibility of reuniting a baby orangutan with its mother.
The baby was separated from its mother one week prior, so the staff wasn’t exactly sure if the mother would take to her baby.
Traumatic Experience
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Although nobody knew what to expect, nothing could have prepared the animal keepers for what they witnessed when they handed the baby over to its mother.
The pair had suffered a truly traumatic experience.
Kidnapped
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Clara wasn’t expecting to see her baby again, but the carers brought the little one, named Clarita, towards the cage Clara was in.
The keepers were very wary since the baby had been kidnapped by an aggressive male and had pulled them apart to assert dominance.
Natural Drink
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The keepers at the institute were going to do everything they could to reunite this sweet pair of primates.
But they wanted to quickly fix the situation since the baby hadn’t had any of mother’s milk the entire week.
Fascination
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Mothers can often reject their young or hurt them out of unfamiliarity. So they calmly reintroduced Clarita to her mother.
Clara was immediately fascinated by the young baby, which was on the other side of the cage.
Tenderly Placed
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Clara put her hands through the bars, desperately trying to get her hands on the child.
She also tenderly placed her lips on her baby through the bars and stroked her fur as best she could through the cage.
Gently And Carefully
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It was a promising start, but the keepers wanted to be certain that Clara was engaged with her baby and not seeing it as a plaything.
They decided to open the cage as gently and carefully as possible and let Clarita be with her mother.
Sign Of Relief
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Clara couldn’t wait, helping with the lock. She took her baby and it bleated like a newborn. Then, she also took a drink from her mother.
The keepers breathed a sigh of relief at seeing mom and baby falling so naturally into a good feeding practice. It was an incredible result for the carers.