Meet Stella, the baby orangutan melting hearts at Busch Gardens in Tampa

TAMPA — The newest star in the animal lineup at Busch Gardens is finally on view for the public. Stella the baby orangutan is melting hearts with her bright eyes and sweet attachment to her red-haired mother.

Stella, who is now 3 months old, represents a milestone for the critically endangered orangutan species. Her birth via cesarean section in April was a rare if not historic feat involving both veterinarians and a medical team from nearby Tampa General Hospital. Only 11 cesarean sections have been conducted in the past two decades of the 139 orangutan births in American zoos.

It is a species in sharp decline, according to the World Wildlife Fund, as their habitat is shrinking. With long, powerful arms and grasping hands and feet, they move through tree branches in a solitary jungle existence, unlike other more communal primates. These great apes share 96.4% of human genes and are highly intelligent creatures.

Stella and her 26-year-old mother, Luna, spent a few months behind the scenes healing and bonding with each other and now are on view in Busch Gardens’ Jungala area, a Southeast Asian-themed section of the park that is home to four tigers and six orangutans.

“She’s an incredible mom,” said zoo supervisor Sam Cohen. “She is very attentive and protective and not to anthropomorphize too much, but I’d say she’s a very proud mother. She loves to hold up the baby and show the other orangutans the baby and show her off.”

Stella has started to climb, which is being met with the excitement of a baby’s first steps.

“She doesn’t climb very high just yet and Luna is very protective when she’s climbing,” Cohen said. “Luna always has a hand there ready to support her to catch her if falls, which is really special to watch.”

She has started teething, with a few teeth breaking through right now, and she is still nursing and probably will continue to nurse for the next six to eight years, Cohen said.

The baby is still quite tiny compared to her 130-pound mother and 273-pound father, Madju. But Cohen can only guess that she weighs about 5 pounds by now because they haven’t had a chance to weigh her. “Mom never puts her down.”

Cohen calls his charges “some of my best friends” because he can tell they recognize him and their other handlers and enjoy their many games.

On a recent visit, both Luna and her mate Madju, an 18-year-old male, climbed up to the platform outside the Jungala observation window and held their hands up around their face, cupping their eyebrows with their hands to block out the sunshine and see who was on the other side of the glass. A visitor’s bright pink shirt caught Madju’s attention and he gave her a long, almost knowing stare.

Meanwhile, Jen Willis, a senior zoological specialist, used pieces of pears, bananas and watermelon as a reward to get Luna to snap her fingers, stick out her tongue and display her hands, feet and mouth for inspection.

“She helps me take care of her,” Willis said. “It’s always a yes or no question and she is allowed to say no, but this helps me see if she might need some lotion or get her teeth brushed or things like that.”

Cohen said Madju is a sweet, gentle dad. He’s almost 10 years younger than Luna, and twice her size, but he defers to her. He will sniff and touch the baby from time to time, but generally keeps his distance. The baby is expected to get more playful with him as she becomes more independent, Cohen said.

Madju is from New Zealand so he has no bloodline among any zoo population in North America, Cohen said. So that’s another reason Stella is considered a milestone, since Bornean orangutans could become extinct in the next 50 years.

“She is a whole new bloodline for this population in North America,” Cohen said.

They are among the slowest developing mammals, so Stella will remain tiny for quite awhile, Cohen said. Orangutans are not considered fully mature until their late teens.

Her next milestones are eating solid food and climbing better, since that is an important orangutan skill for moving among the treetops. She will also start getting a little more independence from mom. They are hoping Luna will soon trust her handlers to babysit while she forages. But for now, it’s the two of them.

“Unlike gorillas or chimps that learn from everyone around them, orangutans only learn from mom,” Cohen said. “So mom has to invest so much energy into teaching them how to find food, what is safe to eat, what dangers to avoid like snakes.”