‘Monumental loss’: Orangutan at Woodland Park Zoo loses baby

Woodland Park Zoo staff is mourning the loss of a cherished baby animal.

The zoo announced Thursday that orangutan Batu lost her baby after carrying the fetus nearly to term. An ultrasound Thursday morning showed the fetus was no longer viable.

According to the zoo, the baby would have been 15-year-old Batu’s first child and the first orangutan born at Woodland Park in 35 years. A June post from the zoo noted the baby would have also been 15-year-old father Godek’s first child.

“While we always prepare for worst-case scenarios, of course, this is not the outcome we expected,” Roger Sweeney, Chief Zoological Officer at Woodland Park Zoo, said. “We had high hopes and were so excited to welcome a healthy baby to our zoo family and for Batu to enter a new chapter of motherhood. This is a monumental loss for our zoo family and our hearts are very heavy, especially for Batu and her dedicated caretakers.”

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Director of Animal Health at Woodland Park, Dr. Tim Storms, said the last ultrasound showed the fetus appeared to developing well with a normal heartbeat. However, Batu was given the choice to participate in ultrasounds and did not participate recently, according to the zoo.

“Because Batu wouldn’t participate in any ultrasounds recently, we made a decision to anesthetize her this morning for evaluation by an expert consulting team of human obstetricians and radiologists. The imaging and examination immediately revealed the fetus was no longer viable and Batu had lost her baby,” Storms said Thursday. “We were able to successfully deliver the fetus without the need for surgery, which will greatly shorten Batu’s recovery.”

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The zoo said Batu recovered in the off-view orangutan bedrooms where her care team monitored her throughout the night. Her team continued to monitor her the following days to make sure she recovered fully and stayed healthy.

“Batu is known for her intelligence, confidence and independent personality,” Sweeney said. “Because she’s still young, we continue to hold on to hope for a future pregnancy and successful birth. Our orangutan team will shower Batu with extra TLC in the coming days.”

To learn more about the orangutans at the zoo, visit Woodland Park’s website.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.