| Nickname: |
Handsome |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Age: |
Born 1985 |
| Place of Birth: |
Toronto Zoo |
| Personality Type: |
Self assured |
Who Is Juara?
Juara came to the Saint Louis Zoo in 2007. He is a magnificent male orangutan with beautiful, long blondish-red hair. He weighs about 375 pounds. He is very easy-going and very respectful of Merah and her youngster. Merah and Juara have been getting along well, and Rubih has been making his acquaintance -- though always under mom's very watchful eye.
Juara was born at the Toronto Zoo January 13, 1985. As an adolescent, he lived at the Little Rock Zoo. He came to the Saint Louis Zoo in November of 2006 and was successfully introduced to Merah and Rubih in April 2007. Introductions are a gradual process for orangutans.
Handsome
Juara is an exceptionally large male orangutan, and keepers refer to him as handsome. His disposition is one of calm self assurance, which is normal for an adult male orangutan.
Merah took to him pretty quickly, but as orangutans are naturally solitary, she does not stay near him constantly. She prefers to attend to her duties as mom to Rubih.
Smart
Zookeepers believe Juara is extremely bright, even by orangutan standards. He figured out the nut puzzle feeder, an enrichment device, very quickly. As far as keepers know, Merah has never figured it out, and keepers think she is pretty smart.
A zookeeper recalls Juara watching her while sitting by the puzzle feeder. He stared at her very intently, then quite deliberately stripped a branch from a nearby bush, which he then proceeded to fashion into the tool he needed to get the nut out of the puzzle feeder. He worked the puzzle slowly, all the while watching the keeper as if to ensure that she was watching, too. The keeper was fascinated!
He loves to make big, fluffy beds out of hay and then spread a sheet or blanket over the hay before he lies down. He also loves covering his head with a sheet or blanket. In the wild, orangutans would cover their heads with big leaves to block sun or rain.
Juara regularly does "long calls" early in the morning and in the evening after everyone has gone home.
Rubih teases him by pulling his hair, but he is always patient with her. He is not always patient when waiting for his dinner, though! He loves to eat and might start "kiss squeaking" if he feels keepers are not hurrying enough.
He is naturally shy but seems to enjoy people-watching from time to time.
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