About Ibu & Butch

The El Paso Zoo is home to a pair of Sumatran orangutans named Ibu and Butch. Here's some more personal information about our expecting parents:


ABOUT IBU

Ibu was born August 1, 1991 at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and came to the El Paso Zoo on June 16, 1997. This is the first pregnancy for 23-year-old Ibu.
Ibu is an intelligent, curious, petite orangutan. She has been training for husbandry and motherhood for several years. Ibu is an artist who loves bright colors. Her work has been published in a book available on www.amazon.com titled, “Fur in My Paint.”Ibu likes chapstick and painting her nails.
Ibu knows a wide variety of commands that allow her to communicate with trainers, with who she has developed a trust-based relationship. She voluntarily presented urine samples for pregnancy testing and also presents her stomach to receive sonograms. Currently Ibu is training to voluntarily present her future baby to her trainers for medical examinations and additional feeding by using a wood block orangutan doll that is the same size and weight as a baby orangutan. She is gradually beginning to use a stuffed animal baby orangutan. If you would like to purchase a stuffed orangutan baby for Ibu to practice her mothering skills, you can do so at the El Paso Zoo gift shop.

ABOUT BUTCH

Butch was born at the Oklahoma City Zoo on August 19, 1985 and came to the El Paso Zoo from the Cincinnati Zoo on March 29, 2011. This will be 29-year-old Butch’s first time as a father.
He’s very shy and has a tall and lanky build. Butch is very detail-oriented and highly observant. He always notices and carefully considers subtle changes in his environment, inspecting them closely. He likes classical music, special orangutan-friendly chalk, and building blocks.

SUMATRAN ORANGUTANS

Orangutan, or “orang hutan” literally translates into English as “person of the forest. Of all the apes in the world, only oranutans come from Asia. Orangutans have shaggy, reddish-brown hair. Some males may grow white or yellow beards. Otherwise, orangutans have bare faces, long arms and curled fingers and toes. Functionally, orangutans have four hands rather than two hands and two feet. Orangutans are the largest tree-living mammal in the world.

Artist Ibu

Did you know expecting mommy Ibu is a published artist? Her work has been published in a book available on amazon.com titled, "Fur in My Paint."

The enrichment programs at the El Paso Zoo are designed to challenge the animals, and our Sumatran Orangutans are no exception. As some of our closest evolutionary relatives, orangutans are capable of much more complex problem solving than any other species here at the Zoo. Ibu, our female orangutan, is currently the only EPZ resident who uses a brush to do her painting.

With a specially designed holder that prevents Ibu from breaking it, keepers allow Ibu to grip the paint brush with her hand, making purposeful strokes on the canvas. Everything in the process is Ibu’s choice, from which color she chooses to where and how much paint she places on the canvas. Her color choice is of most importance to Ibu, red being her favored hue. With clear intention and apparent artistic prowess, Ibu will occasionally use her fingers for touch ups here and there. Ibu even has to ensure she is using only the best quality paint by putting it through the ultimate test: the taste test. 

El Paso, We have a BABY BUMP!

Ibu exercises daily, just like any expectant mommy trying to stay fit. Just like with a human, this is so she can have the most successful pregnancy possible. Her zoo keepers help Ibu exercise regularly. The zoo keepers are not adding exercise to her regular routine, but rather keeping up her regular level of fitness, letting her “get her Jane Fonda on.” Because Orangutan babies are only about 3 to 5 pounds when born, Ibu will not gain much weight. 

Ibu’s training includes exercises that appear like a work out warm up. It includes: getting her knees up like a march, reaching her hands up high into the air, rolling her shoulders, expanding her hips, stretching, climbing, and squats, as well as mental exercises for her inquisitive mind.

Despite the lack of weigth gain in pregnancy, an increase in belly size can occur. Because when Ibu is exercising she practices stretching, her long, orange fur leaves her belly more exposed, and it’s evident she has the beginnings of a baby bump! While on exhibit, it may be hard to tell that five-month-pregnant Ibu is showing because her fur and her build hide the subtle bump. Maybe her little bump will be more obvious as her baby continues to grow.

Either way - it’s exciting to anticipate having a new little red head hanging around.

Feeling Pregnant (in a poopy way)

Ibu has experienced several pregnancy symptoms, such as urinating more frequently and resting more. Now, she’s experiencing a new symptom: occasional constipation. Maybe some mommies out there can relate?

Though she’s already on a high-fiber diet, Ibu now takes three dried prunes three times a day – morning, noon and night – to alleviate this symptom. She also drinks a cup of prune juice cut with water at noon. The juice is cut with water to lessen her sugar intake. The orangutans only take in natural sugars as part of their diet.

Luckily for Ibu, she has a sweet tooth and she happens to be quite fond of prunes, which she considers a sweet treat. 

What is a Breeding Recommendation?

A breeding recommendation is part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) copyrighted breeding and conservation program. The SSP is designed to maintain a healthy, self-sustaining, genetically diverse and viable, as well as demographically stable, population of a species in human care in North America. Generally, animal collections in individual zoos and aquariums are typically too small by themselves to impact long-term conservation efforts. The SSP provides a means for conserving species that may not survive in the wild. While zoo populations are established for many reasons – such as conservation education, exhibit of interesting species, and research – establishing managed populations and saving species from extinction is an important contribution of zoos to conservation.

The SSP therefore organizes zoo and aquarium-based efforts to preserve the species in situ. The collaborative management of individual animals within AZA-accredited institutions is critical to ensuring the long-term survival of threatened and endangered species represented in its SSP program, such as Sumatran orangutans.

“Sending animals to other institutions is evidence of how zoos work together to conserve species such as Sumatran orangutans. Our staff builds a bond with each of our animals and these breeding recommendations are important moves,” said Steve Marshall, El Paso Zoo Director.

The goal of breeding programs for threatened and endangered species is to establish populations that are large enough to be demographically stable and genetically healthy. The animals’ health and well-being is a top priority for zoos, and the SSP is part of that goal. Using the SSP, matches are made using a database that determines genetic compatibility while maintaining a healthy age structure. This means the SSP ensures reproduction is reliably successful, protects the population against diseases and preserves the gene pool to avoid the problems of inbreeding.

Butch was transferred to El Paso from the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden based on a breeding recommendation to match with Ibu. There are only 12 female Sumatran orangutans under human care in AZA-accredited facilities that have a recommendation this year.

El Paso residents may recall animals being transferred from the zoo because of breeding recommendations. Mosi the giraffe’s was transferred to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas based on a breeding recommendation from the SSP. He is also an expecting father, just like Butch! Again, the mission is to cooperatively manage specific, and typically threatened or endangered species. Similarly, Xerxes the lion was transferred to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle based on a breeding recommendation. This recommendation was made because the female lions at the El Paso Zoo are related to Xerxes. Since being transferred, Xerxes has sired African lion cubs.