A BITTERSWEET day occurred at Dublin Zoo as they said their farewell to Sibu Junior, who has been rehomed at a new sanctuary.
Sibu Junior was born on July 31 by the 19-year-old Mujur at Dublin Zoo, it was her third child as she previously gave birth in 2019 and 2022, who later died.
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Dublin Zoo revealed that Sibu’s mother did not have the skills to care for him, such as feeding him, in drastic measures, the infant monkey to be hand-reared.
The mother had a long history of being unable to care for her babies, and Sibu’s father has passed away.
Later on, the infant was transferred to the Monkey World – Ape Rescue Centre in Dorset, where they would be able to support him, as well as other infant monkeys.
A spokesperson for Dublin Zoo said: “It’s bittersweet for us here at Dublin Zoo, as Sibu Junior has now left the Zoo for his new home at a specialist orangutan nursery, Monkey World – Ape Rescue Centre in the UK.
“We were sad to say goodbye to this bundle of joy who had stolen our hearts, but we know that this move is exactly what he needs for his development.
“He will join the nursery which is home to other orphaned or rejected infant orangutans from zoos around the world, including Hungary, Germany and the UK.”
Monkey World is experienced in rehabilitating the young orangutans into groups, helping them to survive and be healthy.
Sibu Junior will be surrounded by many youngsters, meaning plenty of adopted brothers and sisters to grow up in a new environment.
They added: “We want to give a shout out to the heroes in the Dublin Zoo team who have given so much time over the past few months to offer SJ such wonderful care.
“We have had team members work a full shift to fulfil their regular duties at Dublin Zoo and then take on orangutan baby-sitting duties overnight, bottle-feeding and changing nappies.
“It’s been a supreme effort from the whole team and gives us comfort to know we said goodbye to a healthy infant who has made excellent progress. We can’t wait to see him thrive in his new environment.”
Long journey to recovery
Dr Alison Cronin, the director of Monkey World, stated that everyone “had hoped” for Sibu’s mother to learn to feed him and support him throughout his infant years, but unfortunately, it did not work.
She said: “It is really too bad that Sibu’s mother did not feed him, it was what everyone had hoped for.
“In the end the team at Dublin Zoo saved the baby’s life and cared for him around the clock while necessary health checks and paperwork were completed for the transfer of the infant to Monkey World.
“It is so important that orphan orang-utans grow up with others of their own kind. Monkey World specialises in the care of these very vulnerable infants and has specialist facilities to aid in their development and integration into the Nursery Crèche.
“At present Sibu is just over 3kg and is taking 90mls of formula at a time, throughout the day and night.
“He is not ready to join the others just yet but it won’t be long before he is able to sit up and move around on his own. Then he can start spending days in the nursery and get to know some of the others that live there.
“Sibu’s future in the nursery crèche is a long one as he will stay with us, growing up with other orang-utans for the next 10 years before having an adult group of his own someday.”
