BHUBANESWAR: The health of five infant orangutans rescued from a forest in Balasore is being closely monitored at the Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) after a technical committee of the state wildlife wing found three of them suffering from anaemia.
Zoo deputy director Pradeep Mirase said a three-member committee comprising Dr Sashidhar and Dr Madan from Mysore Zoo and Dr Aditya Acharya from the Centre for Wildlife Health at OUAT visited the Centre for Rearing Animal Babies over two days and conducted a thorough health check-up of all five infants. The examination included X-rays of the chest, abdomen and skull, along with the collection of blood, serum and naso-pharyngeal swab samples, which have been sent for laboratory analysis.
In-house haematology tests conducted during the visit, however, already pointed to severe anaemia in one and mild anaemia in two others.
“Supportive supplementation for these orangutan babies, as advised by the technical committee, has been initiated,” Mirase said, adding that the infants are now on a strict, round-the-clock diet of fortified milk formulas, fruits and nutrient supplements.
Dr Acharya told TNIE that the absence of mother’s milk was a key factor behind the anaemia in the infants. Orangutan babies depend heavily on their mother’s milk for complete nutrition, immunity and essential micronutrients such as iron and folic acid.
Separation from the mother has left the infants vulnerable to malnutrition, stress and nutritional anaemia.
“Accordingly, we have advised the zoo authorities to increase iron supplementation for the infants as part of their care,” Dr Acharya said.
Zoo sources said the infants were also found to have a higher worm load after being shifted to the facility and they are being treated.
The technical team has also cleared a proposal to provide the infants a larger open enclosure with improved play facilities. This will reduce the stress of the rescued infants, they said.