Orangutan 'Mujur' Inspires Mothers to Volunteer... Undressing Tops Without Hesitation

Collaboration Between Zoo and National Obstetrics Clinic to Teach Breastfeeding Methods

The images of mothers breastfeeding and taking off their tops in front of an orangutan have been revealed, drawing attention. This was to teach a pregnant orangutan how to breastfeed.

Recently, foreign media such as The Guardian and The New York Post focused on volunteers who demonstrated breastfeeding to a 19-year-old orangutan named Mujur. Mujur had given birth in 2019 and 2022 but was unable to properly feed her babies, resulting in their passing away. When Mujur became pregnant again earlier this year, the zoo collaborated with the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin to recruit 30 'mother' volunteers for training purposes.

Photo by Nora Murphy SNS

For several months, these volunteers demonstrated breastfeeding to Mujur at Dublin Zoo in Ireland. Up to four people per day took turns feeding the baby through a glass wall. This utilized the orangutan's characteristic of closely mimicking human behavior. To make the training more effective, the volunteers even took off their tops.

Mujur watched the women breastfeeding the baby with great interest and even imitated some of their actions. Volunteer Nora Murphy said, "Mujur watched intently to see what we were doing," adding, "As time passed, Mujur began to mimic the actions with her hands, which was truly magical. It felt like passing on a torch."

Mujur gave birth on the 31st of last month and, unlike before, showed maternal behavior toward her baby. However, she failed to adopt the proper breastfeeding posture and could not feed the baby. The baby had to be fed with a bottle. It is scheduled to be transferred to a specialized institution in the UK within a few weeks.

The reason the zoo is putting so much effort into this is that orangutans are facing a severe risk of extinction in the wild. Niamh McGill, a veterinarian at Dublin Zoo, emphasized, "Orangutans have a low reproduction rate and give birth only once every 3 to 5 years. Therefore, the birth of a baby is very important."

In 2021, the environmental organization Greenpeace warned, "The global orangutan population is estimated at 100,000 and is decreasing by 25 individuals daily," adding, "If forest destruction is not stopped, they could become extinct within 50 years."