Just hanging around
at the Philadelphia Zoo

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

For a guy hired almost exclusively to be the resident Casanova of the Philadelphia Zoo’s PECO Primate Reserve, Sugriwa seems an awful shy little devil.
When making his public debut last Thursday morning, the zoo’s newest Sumatran orangutan did little more than lounge on a high platform in a corner of his giant playpen and hide underneath a white paper wrapper of some sort.
The orange-haired, muscle-bound 11-year-old did lift the paper every so often for a playful peek at the dozens of visitors on the other side of the glass. Or maybe he was gazing at Tua, the 14-year-old female and longtime zoo resident who swung from one rafter to the next like Spiderman on steroids.
Sugriwa — "Sugi" for short — replaced another male who had lived with Tua since 1999, when the Primate Reserve opened. That was until Tua and the other male stopped getting along. They never reproduced together.
So enter Sugi. Zoo officials hope that one day he and Tua will have one of those adorable orangutan babies. But getting them together romantically is the first objective.
"They’re working at it, but we don’t know if they’ve been successful yet," said Becky Calvanese, keeper of the animals.
Breeding orangutans is not an exact science, although planning their family tree is a highly thought-out process. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommended that Sugi and Tua mate based on their genetic makeups.
Because there are a limited number of orangutans in the nation’s zoos, the animals’ handlers have to be very careful who they breed with whom so that the population stays genetically diverse and demographically stable. The AZA’s Species Survival Plan manages the matchmaking.
Sugi, whose father Junior died of natural causes within the last year, arrived in Philadelphia in December. He previously lived at the St. Louis Zoo. After a precautionary quarantine period, he has gradually been introduced to Tua, as well as the two white-handed gibbons that share the orangutans’ living quarters.
The primates have both indoor and outdoor space, although they are kept indoors when the weather is chilly.
The large Indonesian island of Sumatra is the orangutans’ native habitat. A separate species hails from Borneo, a neighboring island split between Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to Calvanese, orangutans are very intelligent, as evidenced by their receptive nature to training. They vary from other great apes in their behavior.
"Both chimpanzees and gorillas spend a lot of their time in large social groups," Calvanese said. "Orangutans are what we call solitary. They don’t live completely alone, but they don’t live in tight family groups."
Males will partner with numerous females, but they generally don’t stick around. Females usually raise the offspring.
One advantage to going "solo" is they don’t have to share their food. Orangutans are territorial and mostly feast on fruit that they find in trees. Unlike other apes, that’s where they mostly hang out.
"Although chimps are great tree climbers, they split their time between the ground and trees," Calvanese said. "Gorillas spend most of their time on the ground. But orangutans spend most of their time in the trees."
Orangutans rarely eat meat in the wild and never at the zoo, where they are served assorted fruits, a special chow, various greens and an occasional treat, like popcorn.
In terms of disposition, orangutans are cool cats of the ape world. Chimps and gorillas are largely demonstrative and aggressive.
But as for orangutans, "they tend to be more laid-back," Calvanese said.
Orangutans can live to age 45 or 50, so Sugi is just reaching adulthood physically. He weighs about 175 pounds.
In fact, since Junior died, his handlers have observed an accelerated physical and behavioral development. According to the zookeeper, that’s not unusual for the species when an individual becomes the dominant male in his environment.
Sadly, even the strongest among the species face severe threats in the wild. Deforestation and poaching have made them highly endangered.
Sumatra and Borneo are losing their forests to logging. Meanwhile, the animals remain sought-after pets in some parts of the world. Poachers generally take individuals when they’re young and kill their mothers in the process.
Orangutan mothers give birth to only one offspring at a time, and generally only once every six years, Calvanese said. So repopulating the species is a slow process.
The Philadelphia Zoo supports a series of conservation efforts in Indonesia hoping to teach native people economic alternatives to mass logging. One initiative promotes sustainable palm oil plantations. ••
The Primate Reserve exhibit is free with zoo admission — $16.95 for adults and $13.95 for children ages 2 to 11. Zoo members get in free and have free parking. The zoo, at 34th Street and Girard Avenue, is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Call 215-243-1100 or visit www.philadelphiazoo.org for information.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com