It All Comes Full Circle
This birth is particularly special for the Primate team because Hesty herself was born at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance in 2010 to parents Nias and Mias. Guests and longtime supporters may remember that Hesty had a difficult start after birth and required assist-rearing support from Animal Care staff for several weeks before being reunited with her mother.
Because Hesty’s anatomy closely resembled Nias’, Animal Care teams spent years proactively training with Hesty to help prepare her for motherhood. Through positive reinforcement training, Hesty voluntarily participated in behaviors that would allow her care team to closely monitor both her health and the baby’s development throughout pregnancy and after birth. Teams were prepared to utilize that training if nursing challenges arose, but Hesty and her baby boy have successfully figured things out together.
Watching Hesty now thrive as a first-time mom has been an incredibly rewarding full-circle moment for the staff who helped care for her as an infant. This birth was especially meaningful to Assistant Curator Molly Kainuma, who was here at DZCA for Hesty’s birth, and was among the team that helped to support Hesty’s first few weeks of life.
“When Hesty was born, Michelle Valois (Animal Care Specialist – Primates) and I were both part of her hand-rearing team. Watching her become a mother herself nearly 16 years later is incredibly special. Not only does it make those long hours and uncertain moments worthwhile, but it’s also deeply rewarding to see that Hesty learned how to care for an infant from her own mother and from Eirina. Seeing her naturally demonstrate such strong maternal instincts and resiliency is the very best outcome we could have hoped for. We are so excited to welcome Hesty’s baby boy to our orangutan family!”
