HUSBANDRY TRENDS IN AN SSP POPULATION: A 15

YEAR PERSPECTIVE

HUSBANDRY ADVISOR DUTIES

• Improve husbandry standards of orangutans in zoological settings

• Consult with SSP Institutions

• Liaison to the SSP Management Group

• Review plans for new or refurbished exhibits

• Networking • Husbandry manual

production

GETTING TO KNOW YOU….

Orangutan A.P.E.S.

Bornean___x__ Sumatran_____Subspecific Hybrid_____

Name__Maggie________ Sex __F__ Studbook# __449__

D.O.B. _7/18/61____Birth Institution__San Diego Zoo___

Present Institution____Brookfield Zoo________

Tattoo______Distinguishing features__missing left eye__

Infant Rearing and Social Housingcheck one:Dam Reared___Hand Reared____Dam/Hand Reared_x_

Surrogate reared_____Other (describe)______

SOCIAL MANAGEMENT• Introductions• Shifting• Animals are not

comfortable being separated– Medical treatments– Birth management

TRAINING PROGRAMS• How to begin a program• Injection training• Shift training• Maternal skills training• Problem solving training

issues

SHIPMENTS• Preshipment

preparations• Lack of information

sent with animals• Depression• Lack of interaction

with new social companions

• Lack of interaction with new caregivers

BIRTH MANAGEMENT• Birth Management Plans• Pregnancy confirmation• Gestation length• Dam/infant sexual

interactions post-partum• Social housing post-

partum• Appearance/size of

newborn • Confirmation of adequate

nursing• Sex determination

REARING TRENDS OF ORANGUTANS IN ZOOLOGICAL SETTINGS

WHY EXAMINE REARING TRENDS?

Husbandry Advisor responsibility is to explore what husbandry issues affect orangutans

APES profiles indicated that many animals had been hand-reared

MANAGEMENT ISSUES OF HAND-REARING

orangutans do not receive a normal, species specific infancy which can lead to behavioral problems in the future. Socio-sexual development begins in infancy for orangutans

hand-rearing orangutans requires staff time and resources

some age classes of hand-reared orangutans have a greater chance of rejecting their own infants

breeding females do not acquire the necessary maternal skills to reinforce competent mothering

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• Does the age of the dam have an effect on rearing (i.e. do younger dams have less success than older dams)?

• Do hand-reared females have a poorer maternal performance than females in the other categories?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS• Are there species

differences among rearing successes?

• Does the manner in which the dam herself was raised have an effect on how she raises her own offspring?

METHODS Data is based on194 AZA

orangutan births with known rearing type

Rearing types were categorized

Dams were assigned to 5 classifications

Other factors evaluated including-age of dam at parturition (AAP)-style in which infant was reared-species type (Bornean, Sumatran or subspecific hybrid

INFANT REARING CLASSIFICATIONS

% Numbers of 194 Orangutans in AZA Population for Which Rearing Style is known

• Wild-born Dams – 63.917% of total population -124 animals

• reared their infants: 25.257% of total population 49 animals = 39.516% of category

• infants hand-reared: 29.896% of total population 58 animals = 46.774% of category

• infants foster-reared: 1.546% of total population 3 animals = 2.419% of category

• infants combo-reared: 7.216% of total population 14 animals = 11.290% of category

Captive-born/dam-reared dams9.793% (19 animals) of total AZA population

• reared their infants 5.670% of total population 11 animals = 57.894% of category

• infants hand-reared 2.577% of total population 5 animals = 26.315% of category

• infants foster reared .515% of total population 1 animal = 5.263% of category

• infants combo reared 9.793% of total population 2 animals = 10.526% of category

Captive-born/hand-reared dams18.041% (35 animals) of total AZA

population

• reared their infants 8.762% of total population - 17 animals = 48.571% of category

• infants hand-reared 4.123% of total population - 8 animals = 22.857% of category

• infants foster-reared 3.092% of total population - 6 animals = 17.144% of category

• infants combo-reared 2.061% of total population - 4 animals = 11.428% of category

Captive-born/foster-reared dams1.030%(2 animals) of AZA population

• reared their infants 0% of total population – 0 animals = 0% of category

• infants hand-reared 0% of total population – 0 animals = 0% of category

• infants foster-reared 0% of total population – 0 animals = 0% of category

• infants combo-reared 1.030% of total population –2 animals = 100% of category

Captive-born/combo-reared dams7.216% (14 animals) of total AZA population

• reared their infants: 3.092% of total population 6 animals = 42.857% of category

• infants hand-reared: 3.092% of total population 6 animals = 42.857% of category

• infants foster-reared: 0% of total population 0 animals = 0% of category

• infants combo-reared: 1.030% of total population 2 animals = 14.285% of category

DAM HISTORY OF 194 AZA ORANGUTANS

• Dam-reared: 42.78%

• Hand-reared: 39.69%

• Foster-reared: 5.15%

• Combo-reared: 12.37%

DAM-REARING VS. INFANT INTERVENTIONS

Dam % dam-rearedAAP infants %infant interventions<10 30.0 70.011-15 40.9 59.016-20 42.0 58.021-25 36.3 63.626-30 57.6 42.331-35 80.0 20.036+ 66.6 33.3

Total 50.48 49.4

BREAKDOWN OF INFANT INTERVENTIONS

DamAAP Dam-Reared Hand-Reared<10 9 2111-15 18 2616-20 21 2921-25 12 2126-30 15 1131-35 4 136+ 4 2

REARING STYLE OF INFANTS BORN TO HAND-REARED FEMALES

Age Range #of Hand-reared infants<10 2 out of 3 infants11-15 3 out of 7 infants16-20 1 out of 5 infant21-25 none26-30 none30+ no data for this category

HISTORICAL INTERVENTIONS

Date %dam-reared %Interventions1955-59 .51 .511960-69 2.06 9.271970-79 7.73 18.041980-89 17.52 22.161990-99 13.91 7.212000- 1.03 0

INTERVENTION BY SPECIES

Species Dam-reared InterventionsSumatran 48(24.7%) 50(25.7%)Bornean 31(15.9%) 55(28.3%)Hybrid 4(2.06%) 6 (3.09%)

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS• Younger captive-born females

have a higher incidence of not rearing their infants

• Wild orangutan females do not give birth until 14 years of age or older

• Young captive-born females should not be recommended to breed until older (supports natural reproductive patterns and increases chance for successful rearing

• Certain age classes of females may need maternal training to promote proper maternal care of infants

SHIPMENT PREPARATIONS FOR A 10-YEAR-OLD MALE

ORANGUTAN

MUKAH AND HIS SURROGATE MOTHER MAGGIE

BRUNEI

EVALUATION AND DOCUMENTATION

LUNA BELA

HENRY DOORLY ZOO ORANGUTAN YARD

KEEPER EXCHANGE PRIOR TO SHIPMENT

DIET TRANSITION

CRATE TRAINING

KEEPER ACCOMPANYING SHIPMENT

HUSBANDRY AGREEMENT AND FOLLOW-UP

SEPARATIONS

MUKAH URINARY CORTISOLMukah Urinary Cortisol - 10/9/04 to 1/15/05

Day of Collection160 180 200 220 240 260

Cor

tisol

ng/

mg

crea

tinin

e

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

10/9/04

10/12/04

10/25/04

11/1/04

11/9/04

11/13/04

11/28/0412/18/04

12/19/04

12/30/04

1/6/05

1/15/05

Orangutan Maggie

Day of collection

0 100 200 300 400

Cor

tisol

ng/

mg

crea

tinin

e

0

50

100

150

200

250urinary cortisol

4/26/04

8/16/05

Orangutan Pepper

Day of collection

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Cor

tisol

ng/

mg

crea

tinin

e

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180urinary cortisol

4/24/04

8/16/05

Orang Mukah Urinary Cortisol & %Stereotypic Behavior per Day

Day of Collection/Observation240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380

corti

sol n

g/m

g cr

eatin

ine

-100

-50

0

50

100

150

200

%S

tere

otyp

ic B

ehav

ior

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

Day Cort vs Urinary Cortisol Day Behavior vs %Stereotypic Behavior

12/30/04Vet Knock-Down

No OBSERVEdata from

knock-down

2/5/05

2/1/05

2/17/05

2/15/05

5/5/05

5/2/05

5/8/05

5/8/05

4/7/05

3/12/05

3/3/05

3/5/05

CHANGE IN VENUE

BUSCH GARDENS STAFF

“A SWEET BOY”

THANK YOU!!