Adelalaide Zoo's orangutan is pregnant

Adelaide Zoo is celebrating the pregnancy of Karta, a critically endangered Samatran orangutan who has lost five infants.

Adelaide Zoo's critically endangered Sumatran orangutan Karta is pregnant again, after enduring a stillbirth and the death of four infants after birth.

The baby is due in late November, said the zoo's senior primate keeper Jodie Ellen on Tuesday.

"We're extremely pleased Karta is pregnant and has the opportunity to become a mum again, something we believe she greatly deserves," she said.

"Nothing is being taken for granted and we are hoping this time around Mother Nature will give us a chance to put our supplementary feeding program into practice and give her every chance of a successful outcome.

"At this point we believe Karta is physically, mentally and emotionally ready to try again and we ask the community for support and understanding as we head into the next part of this journey."

An infant was stillborn in January last year, while four other babies have died soon after birth since 1995.

Ms Ellen said it was recently discovered that Karta may have difficultly breastfeeding her infants, which may relate to her inability to raise them in the past.

"Since then we've put the same training into place in the hopes that we will also be able to supplement feed future offspring and give Karta the opportunity to become a successful mother."

The 31-year-old orangutan has been at the zoo since 1992, while Kluet - the expected baby's father - turns 19 next month and arrived at the zoo in 2007.

The most recent estimates indicate there are as few as 6,300 wild Sumatran Orangutans left.

It's estimated 50 are lost a week, due to the destruction of their natural habitat primarily because of the clearing of land for logging and palm oil plantations.


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