Sirih ventured into the atrium for the first time in five days, glancing over the crowd of onlookers clustered behind the glass. They couldn’t seem to peel their attention off her and the small, alien-looking creature that clung to her chest.
Nestled in the crook of Sirih’s arm was an infant orangutan — a boy, a nameless clump of auburn hair born less than a week before on Feb. 20. He’s the first baby orangutan born at the Indianapolis Zoo since 2016.
There are now 12 orangutans living at the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center in Indianapolis — among the most of any zoo in the United States. In the wild, it’s estimated only 50,000 to 65,000 orangutans are alive in their native Borneo and Sumatra, making the animals critically endangered.
That’s why babies like Sirih’s are special.
“We love sharing big successes, and this is a huge one for us,” Indianapolis Zoo President and CEO Robert Shumaker said.
With tiny brown fingers, the baby gripped the hair on his mother’s chest, eyes closed, asleep. Kelley Griese, a public relations specialist for the zoo, said the staff is waiting to name the baby. It’s customary for the zookeepers to spend time with newborns before coming up with a list of possible names, contenders that hopefully combine the animal’s personality with tributes to their country of origin.
Sirih lays down against a cage in the habitat with her newborn on her side Feb, 25. 2025, at the Indianapolis Zoo in Indianapolis. Sirih has given birth to two orangutans at the zoo.
Once the keepers develop a list of possible baby names, the zoo will likely ask the public to vote on their favorite, Griese said.
Part of the mission of the Indianapolis Zoo and others like it is species conservation. All three species of orangutan are increasingly losing their wild habitat to violent deforestation. The growing palm oil industry is particularly culpable.
But Sirih, 32 years old, and her baby, about 4 days and 19 hours old on Tuesday morning, have only ever known life in captivity. Here, instead of foraging for fruit in treetops, she picks through wood wool bedding in search of loose popcorn kernels.
Sirih and the baby’s father, Basan, were recommended as a “breeding pair” by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The AZA grants accreditation to zoos in the U.S. and internationally, and Shumaker said part of the responsibility that comes with accreditation is participating in cooperative breeding with other zoos. All the orangutans at each AZA institution are considered one population, and zoos like Indianapolis work together to ensure that population is diverse and self-sustaining.
Shumaker said the baby’s birth means more than padding population numbers. The boy will be particularly important to Mila, his 8-year-old sister, Sirih’s second child.
Mila is curious about her baby brother. While Sirih sat with him in her lap, Mila crawled over and poked her head near his face. The adolescent gently touched the baby’s arms and stomach. But soon enough, she remembered the green ball behind her filled with frozen fruit juice — her favorite snack — and she waddled away to go play. She’s not that curious.
“This is a critically important opportunity for Mila, and that is getting experience with an infant and seeing how her mom takes care of that infant,” Shumaker said. “This will be her only chance to be around an infant until she has her own.”
The baby is Sirih’s third child — the first was born in Frankfurt, Germany, where she’s from. Griese and other zoo staff said she’s an excellent mom, handling the baby’s care like a pro.
Sirih is pictured looking toward the glass with her newborn baby on her side Feb, 25. 2025, at the Indianapolis Zoo in Indianapolis. Sirih was born in Germany, the only orangutan at the zoo that was not born in the United States.
The orangutan family is not totally dissimilar to a human one. Paper plates that read “celebrate” are scattered around the enclosure. Some of the zookeepers talk about how the baby looks just like his father did in his own baby pictures — but hopefully with better hair.
“Humans are also great apes,” Griese said.
The baby will cling to Sirih’s chest or back for the next two years. Like a human newborn, orangutan babies are totally dependent on their mothers. The infant can hardly lift his own head.
After gathering an impressive fistful of popcorn, Sirih retires to a spot against the wall, where she lays on her back with the baby outstretched on her chest like a starfish. Like a human mother, she closes her eyes just for a moment, tired from caring for her family’s latest addition.
