Zoo goes to extreme lengths to teach its orangutan how to breastfeed!

Dublin, Ireland- A zoo in Ireland went to extreme lengths to teach its pregnant orangutan how to nurse. They had tons of human volunteers show it how it's done!

A zoo in Dublin when to extreme lengths trying to teach its orangutan to breastfeed!
A zoo in Dublin when to extreme lengths trying to teach its orangutan to breastfeed!  © Screenshot/Facebook/Dublin Zoo

While Dublin Zoo's 19-year-old orangutan Mujur was pregnant, the zoo got creative in teaching the animal maternal skills, specifically breastfeeding. They decided to see if following the "monkey see, monkey do principle" would help!

So, the zoo asked breastfeeding humans to come and show the expecting orangutan how to hold and feed her baby, per their press release.

Shockingly, 30 women responded and took turns showing Murjur how to nurse.

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The Dublin Zoo team took this unorthodox approach because Mujur's maternal skill set was lacking. She'd previously given birth to two other babies, but unfortunately, neither survived infancy.

The zoo wanted to play it safe this time and left "no stone unturned," so Mujur got breastfeeding lessons from the human women and watched videos of other apes nursing their young.

"Mujur was extremely interested in watching the women feed their babies through the glass, even mirroring some of their actions," the Dublin Zoo explained.

Orangutan learns to breastfeed from humans

When her Mujur gave birth to a healthy male infant at the end of July, it was clear that she'd learned a lot from the intensive training.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. She got the idea, but she still couldn't get the baby into the right position for feeding.

The zoo staff observed Mujur's maternal development for as long as possible before intervening, and the animal care team is now watching over the infant 24/7 and giving him bottles.

While the team is proud of the infant's development, it isn't a long-term solution. Eventually, the baby will move to a UK facility specializing in hand-rearing orangutans.

Cover photo: Screenshot/Facebook/Dublin Zoo

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