Greenville Zoo welcomes baby orangutan

Greenville Zoo director Jeff Bullock announced this afternoon that just before 6 a.m. this morning, doctors delivered a healthy, 2.9-pound female baby orangutan via C-section. Mother Lana is doing well and has been monitored throughout the day and provided with medication to help manage the pain from the surgery as she comes out of the anesthesia. Her baby is also doing well and a birth management team of seven staff members will care for the newborn until Lana has recovered from her surgery and the two can be safely introduced.

According to Bullock, Lana began showing signs of labor last night and a team of zoo staff and medical professionals gathered at the zoo just before 10 p.m. Lana’s regular caregivers proceeded to the orangutan den while the zoo’s veterinarian, veterinary technician, general curator and director, as well as a local OB-GYN and a neonatologist, monitored Lana via closed-circuit camera from a conference room. For a while, her contractions became more intense and the intervals shorter; however, as the night went on, Lana seemed to tire and the frequency of her contractions began to decrease.

Around 1:30 a.m., the team discussed the changes in her labor and potential issues and contacted the Orangutan SSP Veterinary Advisor to share their observations and solicit his opinion. Following the call, the team made the decision to intervene. They called the anesthesiologist who was standing by and once Lana was immobilized, the doctors were taken to the orangutan den, where the OB-GYN performed an ultrasound and determined that the baby was doing well and had a good heartbeat. The anesthesiologist intubated Lana so she could be managed more safely with gas rather than drugs and around 4:30 a.m., Lana was transported to a local veterinary hospital for a C-section.

Shortly after the birth, once the neonatologist cleaned and examined the newborn, zoo staff transported her to the nursery space that was constructed at the zoo as part of the birth management plan. Just after 8 a.m., zoo staff transported Lana back to her den at the zoo, where she has been recovering from the anesthesia. Access to the baby will be strictly limited to the seven-member team, who will work in shifts around the clock, caring for and feeding the baby until Lana is well enough to do so.

Details about Lana’s recovery and the baby’s progress will be shared in the coming days. In the meantime, several pictures of the baby are available online at http://greenvillezoo.com/orangutanbaby.