Overview

• Samboja, a 20-year-old orangutan, died Wednesday evening days after giving birth following about two weeks of reported illness.
• The newborn is reported to be doing reasonably well and is currently being cared for at Apenheul.
• Apenheul has transferred Samboja’s body to the veterinary faculty in Utrecht for examination to determine the cause of death.
• The zoo is working with EAZA to identify a suitable lactating foster mother, which could be within Apenheul or at another institution.
• Samboja’s older daughter Indah is unsettled but staying with grandmother Sandy, and the zoo highlights the family’s role in population management as WWF notes the species’ wider threats from deforestation.