Cameras Captured An Orangutan Giving Birth For The First Time. Then She Took Her Baby To The Keepers

[Music] every birth is a little miracle but this was something truly remarkable rare film of a sumatran orangutan delivering a baby and given new mommy dana's medical history the moment was especially poignant to witness but her already overwhelmed keepers were perhaps not prepared for what happened next as dana gathered up her newborn in her long arms and slowly approached them the baby orangutang in question entered the world on july 9 2013 at the durrell wildlife conservation trust space at jersey zoo on the island of jersey then just three days later gordon hunt the facility's head of mammals uploaded to youtube the footage of dana giving birth and the event is a privilege to watch for several reasons not least because great apes such as dana are exceptionally rare indeed sumatran orangutans can be found on the international union for conservation of nature's iucn red list for a critical endangered species they were also once classed as one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world happily however iucn published a survey in march 2016 that revealed some unexpectedly good news that report stated that approximately twice as many sumatran orangutans were then living in the wild and had been previously thought estimates put the head count at about 14 600. nevertheless breeding programs offered by the likes of dural wildlife conservation trust make vital contributions to the orangutan population and dana's offering from 2013 was also important in fact the sumatran orangutan birth on jersey was thought to have been the first captured on camera jersey zoo used to be called darrell wildlife park after its founder author and naturalist gerald durrell it is operated by the durrell wildlife conservation trust and has hosted orangutan since 1968 and as the name suggests sumatran orangutans are native to the island of sumatra a territory that belongs to indonesia meanwhile the word orangutan is derived from iran the indonesian word for person and human or forest the great apes name can be therefore translated as person of the forest of course though 29 year old female dana is far from sumatra jersey zoo is her home as it is for her 32 year old mate dagu and the little youtube star who came along in 2013 but that delivery was not the sumatran orangutan's first attempt at having a baby in fact dana had been expecting a child four years previous unfortunately however there was no happy ending for the great ape then as her pregnancy tragically ended with her delivering a stillborn baby furthermore the complications of the unfruitful delivery were physically debilitating to dana sadly the stillbirth really took its toll physically as the trauma to her body resulted in a blockage within the orangutan's fallopian tubes for all intents and purposes therefore dana was therefore infertile or at least she would have been had it not been for the intervention of one neil mclaughlin mclaughlin was the head obstetrician at jersey general hospital in the island's capital of saint heller and he stepped in to assist dana the involvement of a human doctor was not as out there as some may think however since orangutans share 97 of their dna with homo sapiens and are very similar anatomically subsequent to mclaughlin's treatment dana fell pregnant for the second time but even though the orangutan was with child again in late 2012 her keepers didn't dare get their hopes up for a successful birth indeed gordon hunt later admitted to the huffington post we didn't know what was going to happen as we'd almost written dana off as never breathing again nonetheless an excited hunt and a number of other keepers were behind the camera when dana reached the end of her nine month gestation period in june 2013. the birth itself was incredibly quick by human standards and it was all caught on video hunt is just one of the voices heard commenting on the events as they unfold the birth sequence opens up with dana in a standing position displaying little sign of any discomfort here it comes here it comes says one excited keeper this is it that's the head we see the female simply catch the newborn in her hand as it slips smoothly out after one extended push and when dana cradles the infant in her massive hands the awestruck keeper continues that's it it's out that's it dana then amazes the employees of the jerrell wildlife conservation trust again by instantly switching into motherhood mode in fact it seems as if she wastes no time in doing what she instinctively knows to do she's starting to remove the amniotic sac a different keeper explains as the camera follows dana's emery move the amniotic sac is the fluid-filled membrane which keeps the feet as protected as it develops in the womb after a mother has given birth however this item has fulfilled its function and we see dana gently remove the sack from her newborn with her lips we watched the birth but we didn't know everything was okay until later hun told the huffington post we didn't want to get too excited but that's not the impression viewers get when they watch the youtube clip the keepers sound like they're besides themselves with excitement meanwhile a very calm dane approved that she knows exactly what she's doing initially the sumatran orangutan baby is silent and still in the video but when the amniotic sac begins to fall away the newborn starts to move yes it's alive it's moving one of the keepers says in relief the baby also begins squeaking a little and as dana's handlers watch on the new mom does something amazing we next see the super maternal dana scoop the baby up in her arms and place her mouth over the newborn's face a keeper explains what the footage is showing wow she's just cleared the baby's airways he reveals and with no obstruction now to prevent it from doing so the new arrival begins to cry out loud dana is subsequently seen holding her newborn in her arms for a while in time though the video captures another incredible moment look she's coming over we hear hunt's voice say as the orangutan brings her little ones up to the bars of the enclosure and closer to the camera this is amazing she's come to show us the baby he excitedly explains dana must have really valued and trusted the durrell wildlife conservation trust staff to show them her newborn especially after her previous loss her handlers cannot believe how lucky they are either and they now seem breathlessly euphoric look at that that's fantastic brilliant one of the off-camera keepers explains but there was another fact which made this episode extra special as far as we know this is the first time a procedure like that to clear the fallopian tubes has ever been done on a sumatran orangutan hunt informed the huffington post to get the birth on camera is fantastic and we can't wait to show the footage to everyone hunt continued seeing the birth was incredible mind-blowing i watched the birth of my children and i don't think you realize until much later what you're witnessing and keepers subsequently dubbed dana and dagu's girl kia however her full name is kia jaiban which just happens to be the indonesian word for miracle