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Zoe an orangutan who had trouble breastfeeding to her babies at the Metro Richmond Zoo learned how to do it after a human keeper who was also breastfeeding gave the primate a demonstration.
The surprising fact was recorded at the end of March at the aforementioned zoo located in the city of Moseley, Virginia, United States.
According to a statement from Metro Richmond Zoothe mission to teach Zoe to breastfeed her baby came after “Taavi”, her first baby had to be hand-reared after she was unable to properly nurse or hold him.
Zoe gave birth to her second baby on December 12, 2022 and with the veterinarians fearing that the orangutan would not be able to properly feed her baby, Whitlee Turner, zookeeper, was asked and new mom who will breastfeed her own baby Caleb in front of Zoe hoping that the primate would learn from the live demonstration.
Turner agreed and with the help of vets entered the orangutan’s inner house shortly after she gave birth. It only took 24 hours for Zoe to learn to breastfeed her baby for the first time.
Veterinarians considered Whitlee’s demonstration successful. However, fearing that Zoe would not develop her maternal instincts, they put up a television with recordings of other orangutans feeding their babies.
For her part, Whitlee Turner considered that supporting Zoe in her maternity was very exciting, because since she accepted the mission, she wanted the orangutan to observe in detail how she fed her son Caleb.
“I just put on my nursing bra and was able to show [Zoe] all without modesty. He wanted her to be able to see the whole process because orangutans don’t wear shirts. I wanted her to be able to see my breasts and see Caleb and be able to see him poking and searching for him and the latch.
With the bra down, I exaggerated a lot when I put it on so that [Zoe] I saw that the baby is coming here. The whole time I was talking to her and pointing at her, pointing at the baby, pointing at her breasts. And when Caleb was hooked, he was showing it to him, making sure he saw the important part.
The whole time he kept looking at me curiously. She didn’t nurse her baby right away, but she was definitely watching the whole time.”Whitlee mentioned according to the statement.
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