Alexandra: New Girl in Fresno
Chaffee Zoo welcomes new female orangutan
By Marc Benjamin / The Fresno Bee
Bet a new primate wasn’t on your holiday wish list.
It was for Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
Alexandra, 24, the zoo’s fourth orangutan, arrived in Fresno late Tuesday night after coming from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.
She was brought in to serve as a playmate for Siabu, an active 18-year-old female, but also will be a companion to the zoo’s two other orangutans, a male named Busar, 23, and an older female named Sara.
Patty Peters, the zoo’s marketing director, said Siabu was in need of a primate pal because 37-year-old Sara is starting to slow down and Busar doesn’t frequently interact with the female orangutans, a common trait among males of the species.
Orangutans are an endangered great ape. They share the zoo’s Sunda Forest habitat with other primates known as siamangs. Orangutans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia but are now found only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Alexandra was flown to Fresno on a Federal Express jet and was monitored during the flight by a veterinarian and a keeper from the Ohio zoo.
She is now in a quarantine that will last at least 30 days, said Peters. The new orangutan may not become part of the zoo’s Sunda Forest exhibit for a couple of months.
The addition of Alexandra is part of Chaffee Zoo’s effort to work within a species survival plan that involves other zoos. Although she is unable to reproduce, Alexandra will be an important addition to the zoo’s primate community, Peters said.
Species survival plans are not necessarily developed for animal reproduction.
“It’s a way to manage genetics but also to maintain the best possible care,” Peters said. “It’s not all about breeding; it can also be about making sure that if they are social animals that they have that companionship.”
