Australasian Orangutan Population

[ApeLadyNZ]

Update - Charlie and Daya

I was fortunate enough to visit Auckland Zoo today (before today's inclement weather set in) and noticed that Charlie was again following Daya around the habitat, and she seemed not only to be tolerating, but encouraging, his presence. They ended up at the one remaining window nesting basket, and to the amazement of the stunned visitors, engaged in obvious mating behaviour. Several times, Bahmi attempted to climb into the nest with Charlie and Daya, but Melur pulled him back, uttering small admonishing rumbles towards Bahmi.

Daya then left the basket and moved onto the climbing structures - Charlie followed her and further mating ensued. Afterwards, Daya and Charlie returned to the basket and sat comfortably together, Daya napping and Charlie sitting next to her, even occasionally stroking her hair while Melur firmly kept Bahmi away from them.

This is excellent news indeed, and is particularly interesting in that a lot of the activity seemed to be initiated by Daya.

 

[Jambo]

Update - Charlie and Daya

I was fortunate enough to visit Auckland Zoo today (before today's inclement weather set in) and noticed that Charlie was again following Daya around the habitat, and she seemed not only to be tolerating, but encouraging, his presence. They ended up at the one remaining window nesting basket, and to the amazement of the stunned visitors, engaged in obvious mating behaviour. Several times, Bahmi attempted to climb into the nest with Charlie and Daya, but Melur pulled him back, uttering small admonishing rumbles towards Bahmi.

Daya then left the basket and moved onto the climbing structures - Charlie followed her and further mating ensued. Afterwards, Daya and Charlie returned to the basket and sat comfortably together, Daya napping and Charlie sitting next to her, even occasionally stroking her hair while Melur firmly kept Bahmi away from them.

This is excellent news indeed, and is particularly interesting in that a lot of the activity seemed to be initiated by Daya.

Great news! Especially with Daya's rather reserved personality, and Charlie's tendency to favour specific females; it's really good that Charlie's begun to show great interest and Daya, and vice versa. Daya's comfort with Charlie will surely only blossom as times goes on, and I can certainly see them being quite the pair in the long term.

I'm also really glad that multiple mating attempts have been witnessed. With Daya off contraception, let's hope for a baby before the end of next year. At earliest, we could potentially see a baby born next winter!

 

[Zoofan15]

Great news! Especially with Daya's rather reserved personality, and Charlie's tendency to favour specific females; it's really good that Charlie's begun to show great interest and Daya, and vice versa. Daya's comfort with Charlie will surely only blossom as times goes on, and I can certainly see them being quite the pair in the long term.

I'm also really glad that multiple mating attempts have been witnessed. With Daya off contraception, let's hope for a baby before the end of next year. At earliest, we could potentially see a baby born next winter!

It’s exciting to think we could see a new infant within the next 12 months, especially with no chance of the Sumatran orangutan breeding programme restarting anytime soon.

Typical of an adult male orangutan, Charlie likes females in general. Auckland Zoo used to have a signage board back in the 2010’s that listed the orangutans likes and dislikes and one of Charlie’s likes was females - which was an apt description. He found the females bickering tiresome; but bar Wanita, who none of the males showed an interest in, he’s always been very focussed on the females.

Gangsa was the first female to return said interest; and while we’ve yet to see how Charlie and Daya’s relationship will progress, Charlie and Gangsa’s relationship remains the strongest I’ve seen between any pair at Auckland Zoo. She didn’t like Isim nearly as much, with their pairing necessitated by the need to separate Gangsa from Melur and Wanita, who she was showing aggression to.

Though Gangsa showed an interest in Charlie from early on (even before Melur had Madju), I’ve often thought that their relationship was strengthened by the fact Gangsa never bred at Auckland Zoo. It’s clear Melur’s preoccupation with first Madju; and now Bahmi had limited her interest in Charlie/male company.

 

[ApeLadyNZ]

Great news! Especially with Daya's rather reserved personality, and Charlie's tendency to favour specific females; it's really good that Charlie's begun to show great interest and Daya, and vice versa. Daya's comfort with Charlie will surely only blossom as times goes on, and I can certainly see them being quite the pair in the long term.

I'm also really glad that multiple mating attempts have been witnessed. With Daya off contraception, let's hope for a baby before the end of next year. At earliest, we could potentially see a baby born next winter!

I too am very happy with this rather unexpected turn of events! When Daya first arrived, Charlie seemed curious but later tended to ignore her while attempting to persuade an extremely reluctant Melur to mate instead. I am of the opinion that he most likely still regarded her as a youngster. Now, Daya looks and acts much more like a mature female, and Charlie's attention yesterday was entirely devoted to her, and she was perfectly relaxed around him.

I've noticed quite a few physical changes in Daya, which others have also commented on - she seems to have much less hair on the top of her head than when she first arrived, and her hair overall seems lighter in hue, making it harder to tell her from Melur at a distance. I'm wondering if these are hormonally related changes due to her maturing.

 

[Zoofan15]

I too am very happy with this rather unexpected turn of events! When Daya first arrived, Charlie seemed curious but later tended to ignore her while attempting to persuade an extremely reluctant Melur to mate instead. I am of the opinion that he most likely still regarded her as a youngster. Now, Daya looks and acts much more like a mature female, and Charlie's attention yesterday was entirely devoted to her, and she was perfectly relaxed around him.

I've noticed quite a few physical changes in Daya, which others have also commented on - she seems to have much less hair on the top of her head than when she first arrived, and her hair overall seems lighter in hue, making it harder to tell her from Melur at a distance. I'm wondering if these are hormonally related changes due to her maturing.

I too noticed the change in Daya’s physical appearance. When she arrived, she reminded me a lot of Indra and Intan with regards to her hair on the top of her head. It’s not a trait Melur and Gangsa have; and indeed Madju (and even Bahmi) have always looked much balder than Isim as a juvenile.

It appears male orangutans have a strong sense of when females are cycling. A study on Perth’s orangutans noted the breeding male (Atjeh) showed strong interest in the females when they were ovulating; but ignorance/avoidance of them once this time had passed. Auckland’s males similarly showed no interest in Wanita, which was theorised to be down to her non-reproductive status (she underwent a hysterectomy).

 

[ApeLadyNZ]

I too noticed the change in Daya’s physical appearance. When she arrived, she reminded me a lot of Indra and Intan with regards to her hair on the top of her head. It’s not a trait Melur and Gangsa have; and indeed Madju (and even Bahmi) have always looked much balder than Isim as a juvenile.

It appears male orangutans have a strong sense of when females are cycling. A study on Perth’s orangutans noted the breeding male (Atjeh) showed strong interest in the females when they were ovulating; but ignorance/avoidance of them once this time had passed. Auckland’s males similarly showed no interest in Wanita, which was theorised to be down to her non-reproductive status (she underwent a hysterectomy).

Melur and her offspring seemed to have inherited their receding hairline from Yasmin, Melur's mother. I've noticed that Madju's daughter Stella and Yasmin's son Akyli bear a strong resemblance to Bahmi and that baldness is a strong component of that resemblance.

Charlie seems to be particularly attuned to the female cycles - according to one keeper, he was following Daya around before she'd even reached the peak of her cycle and although he is typically very food motivated, he even let eating take a back seat to his pursuit of her!