Pregnant Orangutan drinks herbal tea and cures her morning sickness!
The Denver Zoo's pregnant orangutan, Eirina, perked up and started eating breakfast again after trying a medicinal tea provided by her caretaker.
Eirina, a Denver Zoo orangutan, is enjoying her pregnancy again, thanks to her caretaker.
Early in her pregnancy, the primate mother-to-be started experiencing morning sickness and discomfort. Her animal care specialists quickly noticed that Eirina was eating less, acting low energy, and generally didn't seem like herself.
"She has never been pregnant before. This whole experience is new for her," said Cindy Cossaboon, an animal care specialist with the Denver Zoo.
"Eirina had obvious signs of discomfort immediately. She went from playing all day to not wanting to get out of her nest. We would come in, and she would be in her nest, covered in blankets up to her neck. She didn't want anything to eat or drink," she adds.
Cossaboon is familiar with Eirina's moo; shehe has been looking after the primate since the orangutan first arrived at the Denver Zoo from Germany's Dortmund Zoo in 2016.
"At that time, she was 8 years old. She was just a kid then. German is my first language, and I lived in Germany until I was 14. So I understood the culture shock. Luckily, I was able to speak to her in German. I'd like to think that helped with her move to the U.S.," Cossaboon says of her relationship with Eirina.
"If I would describe Eirina like a person, she is very reserved until you get to know her. Once, you are her friend, she is one of the most hilarious individuals you will find," she adds. "Usually, orangutans have very subtle facial expressions, but not Eirina. She has this great smile with very large teeth."
When Cossaboon saw pregnant Eirina's smile fade, searching for solutions to the animal's discomfort. The orangutan's care crew tried several natural treatments for morning sickness, like ginger, but all failed to produce results.
"That's when I remember the tea I drank when I was pregnant," Cossaboon recalls.
"When I was pregnant, I was a high-risk pregnancy, so I started taking this tea hoping it might help. The benefit I found was that it really helped my morning sickness," she adds.
The tea was a "traditional medicinal pregnancy tea" that featured ingredients like raspberry leaf, spearmint, stinging nettle, and fennel fruit.
"It was one of the few things that made me feel better. I talked with my managers, veterinarian team, and nutrition team to see if this was something we could try with Eirina," Cossanoon says of her next steps.
After getting approval from Eirina's zoo team, Cossaboon started brewing the tea for the orangutan. Eirina was a fan from the first sip.
"When orangutans really like how something tastes, they will swish it around in their mouth to savor the taste. I brought Eirina her tea. She sat up from her nest. She took a sip from her straw, and she looked like a chipmunk with these huge cheeks while she swished away. She loved it," Cossaboon says of the first time pregnant Eirina tried the tea.
Now, Eirina and Cossaboon have a morning tea routine.
"When I arrive in the morning, I get her tea ready. While it is seeping, I go check on her. She is always still in her nest under her blankets. I then go get her tea, and when she sees me coming, she sits up and is ready to drink her tea. After she has had her tea, she is more active and eats her breakfast," the animal care specialist explains.
Cossaboon and Eirina's other caretakers have noticed a positive change in Eirina's mood and health since she started drinking the tea. The orangutan is slowing down again as she enters her birth window, but Eirina is still interested in attention and activity after drinking her morning tea.
"My guess is that before school starts, we will have a brand new baby," Cossaboon says.
