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An orangutan struggled to nurse her baby. A human new mom taught her how.

Zoe, an orangutan at the Metro Richmond Zoo, had troubles breastfeeding her first baby

April 1, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
Zoe, a 14-year-old orangutan, breastfeeds her newborn son at the Metro Richmond Zoo. (Metro Richmond Zoo)
6 min

Mothers sometimes struggle to breastfeed, and Zoe, a 14-year-old orangutan, was no exception.

She had been orphaned at nine months old at the Metro Richmond Zoo, when her own mother had died unexpectedly from heart failure, and had never seen another orangutan mother raise a baby. Zoe had troubles breastfeeding and nurturing her first baby, Taavi, when he was born two years ago, leading keepers to hand-raise him.