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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announces baby orangutan death following birth

The zoo says veterinarians and biologists continue to monitor Kera’s health and so far she seems to have no ill effects from the birth.

CLEVELAND — It has been a difficult week at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and on Saturday things took another sad turn. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announced that Kera Wak, the orangutan, gave birth to a baby this week but it did not survive.

The zoo is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic but their team continues to care for the animals every day.

Kera, the orangutan is a mother to Merah, now 5 and the zoo says it had been closely monitoring her for the past several months since first identifying that she was pregnant. Unfortunately, the baby did not show any signs of life immediately following birth.

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The zoo says veterinarians and biologists continue to monitor Kera’s health and so far she seems to have no ill effects from the birth. 

Not only is the death sad, Bornean orangutans are critically endangered and their populations are declining.

Despite being closed, the zoo is still offering virtual learning programs on their Facebook page while being closed.

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