Woodland Park Zoo’s 15-year-old orangutan Batu miscarried her nearly full-term fetus, according to the zoo.
This was Batu’s first pregnancy and would’ve been Woodland Park’s first orangutan birth in 35 years.
The miscarriage was discovered Thursday morning during an anesthetized exam. The exam showed “the fetus was no longer viable,” according to a news release. Batu’s pregnancy was announced in June. She’s one of the zoo’s four orangutans. Godek, 15, was the father.
Roger Sweeney, Woodland Park’s chief zoological officer, said the miscarriage was unexpected.
“We had high hopes and were so excited to welcome a healthy baby to our zoo family and for Batu to enter a new chapter of motherhood,” he said in a news release. “This is a monumental loss for our zoo family and our hearts are very heavy, especially for Batu and her dedicated caretakers.”
Orangutan pregnancies are similar to human pregnancies, according to the zoo. Female orangutans only give birth every seven to nine years, due to the dependency of infant orangutans. Batu’s birth plan included regular checkups and ultrasounds. As she got further in her pregnancy, Batu received twice-weekly checkups from an obstetrician.
The zoo gave Batu autonomy over her checkups, with Batu presenting her stomach while doctors examined her with an ultrasound probe, according to the zoo. She recently stopped doing the checkups.
“Up until recently we had been able to closely track the development of Batu’s fetus,” said Tim Storms, director of animal health at the zoo, in the release. “The last ultrasound showed all indicators were good — the fetus was near-term and appeared to be developing well, with a normal heartbeat.”
They decided to anesthetize her Thursday morning to evaluate the pregnancy. Storms said the miscarriage was immediately identified and the doctors were able to deliver the baby without surgery.
The zoo said Batu will be closely monitored in the coming days.
“Batu is known for her intelligence, confidence and independent personality,” Sweeney said. “Because she’s still young, we continue to hold on to hope for a future pregnancy and successful birth. Our orangutan team will shower Batu with extra TLC in the coming days.”
