The birth of a Sumatran orangutan is one of the most important conservation achievements in the history of the Zoo!
Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered worldwide. Maintaining a breeding population in accredited zoos is an integral component to the future of their survival die to the pressure on wild populations. The birth of an orangutan is a huge historic conservation achievement for the Zoo and our community, and an important contribution to the conservation of this endangered species! The El Paso Zoo is one of 27 accredited institutions with Sumatran orangutans. Ibu is one of only 12 females included in the current breeding recommendation of the AZA’s species survival plan for this species.
The El Paso Zoo has focused on Sumatran orangutan conservation efforts as one of its top priorities over the past 10 years – and you can help too! Here’s five ways you can contribute to orangutan conservation.
- Be a consumer conservationist
Did you know palm oil deforestations in the No. 1 threat to orangutans worldwide? Be a consumer conservationist and know which products you use contain palm oil, and choose brands that only use sustainably-sourced and deforestation-free palm oil, or have no palm oil. You can check food, cosmetic and toiletry labels and company websites for palm oil information so you can make the best product choice to save orangutan habitat. Just by changing one palm oil product in your home, you help save orangutans!
- Visit Butch, Ibu and Khaleesi at the El Paso Zoo
At the El Paso Zoo, we advocate to end deforestation and decimation or orangutans and other species threated by unsustainable palm oil harvesting practices. We are also on the forefront of saving the critically endangered species, both here in El Paso with the birth of Khaleesi, and in Indonesia, by putting boots on the ground to help with conservation efforts around the globe.
- Share your savvy
Use your social media sites to hare your support for orangutans! When you share your knowledge with your friends, we can all be consumer conservationists together and help save orangutan habitats! You can also share you support for your favorite palm oil free and sustainably-sourced and deforestation-free palm oil products on your social media sites.
To follow Ibu and Khaleesi and get exclusive new information, you can read her mommy blog “Motherhood: A New WILD Life … From Sonogram to Orangutan” at www.ibusmommyblog.com, or follow the Zoo on facebook, twitter, youtube and instagram so you can share your favorite orangutan moments with your friends!
