Wasn't there also another female at the zoo (possibly before the Taronga animals arrived) that died after giving birth (the baby died as well)?
I think I remember Christine talking about her on Indra's episode of The Zoo: This Is Your Life.
That orang was called Dhara (not sure of the spelling) and she arrived at Auckland with Indra and Horst. Her and Indra were best friends. She had had 4 babies already but for some reason this birth went terribly wrong. Her baby dies and a couple of days later she died as well. The cause is still unknown to me but I think it was some sort of cancer. Christine was heart broken and yes she does talk about it on Indra's episode on 'The Zoo This Is Your Life'.
I don't know right at this moment but I will try to find out and get back to you.
Do you mean the death of Dhara and her last baby?
I think the incident with Dhara happened around 2000.
Yes Christine has hand-raised Iwani and his twin sister Ibaranie because they were abandoned from their mother, Iurrie, when they were just 6 weeks old. Ibaranie was badly bitten by her mother and died a couple of weeks later. Iwani was born in 2004 and today he is living at the zoo with a female named Kera and the keepers are hoping that they will eventually breed.
And believe it or not, even now, Iwani still thinks that Christine is his mum!
I googled the name 'Iwani' and I saw a post somewhere that Iwani is at Adelaide zoo? Accurate info?
Does anyone know when Irian went to Adelaide?
HI Sam
I am impressed how much you know about Auckland Zoo's Orangs, may I ask how you know all this info?
All your facts and figures are spot on except for the fact that we aren't 100% sure who the father of Madju and Isim is. We are currently working on DNA testing to find out for sure.
Dara had a son Datuk born in 1989 (I'm not sure who the father was, probably Charlie!) who went to Taronga Zoo in 1995. He died soon after sadly. Dara's second offspring was born in 2000. The father was Charlie. Dara had septicemia following the birth and had trouble feeding the baby, sadly she rolled on the baby killing it. Even more tragically Dara died a couple of days later under anaecestic.