An endangered Sumatran orangutan at the New Orleans zoo is expecting twins

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Menari, the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, is seen climbing in her enclosure at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. The zoo announced Thursday that Menari is pregnant with twins.

Susan Poag/Digital Roux Photography

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Susan Poag/Digital Roux Photography

Short Wave
If You Give An Orangutan A Kazoo…

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Menari, one of Audubon Zoo’s Sumatran orangutans, is due to have her first offspring in December or January.

Susan Poag/Digital Roux Photography

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Susan Poag/Digital Roux Photography

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Vertefeuille says the bond between orangutans and their children, however, plays a role in the species extinction — that orangutan mothers are most likely to be killed rather than giving up their children when poachers seek babies for illegal wildlife trade.

The World Wildlife Fund cites the pet trade and habitat loss as two of the biggest threats facing the world’s orangutan species.

There are believed to be fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans living in the wild, as palm oil plantations spread into their habitats.

• orangutan
• zoo
• animals
• New Orleans