Zoo Names Endangered Baby Orangutan After One Of Dolly Parton's Greatest Hits

May 11, 2022, 2:29 PM

orangutan holding baby as she stares at her mother

instagram | @oregonzoo

It's always an exciting day at a zoo when a new baby animal is born and that excitement often becomes infectious enough to spread into the world at large.

For obvious reasons, it's a particular cause for celebration when that baby happens to be a member of an endangered species. But it's not like most of us wouldn't want to say hello to a new friend at the cutest stage of its life.

That's why one little orangutan at the Oregon Zoo has already won herself a lot of fans and that excitement around her doubled after the zoo's staff gave her a very special name.

On April 13, a 20-year-old critically endangered Bornean orangutan named Kitra filled zookeepers with hope when she gave birth.

But as Kate Gilmore — who's in charge of the Oregon Zoo's primate area — told People, it took weeks before the baby's gender was revealed because they wanted to give Kitra space to bond with the child for as long as she needed.

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Because this is Kitra's first baby and because her species is so endangered, staff had long prepared to step in if she struggled with motherhood.

But as Gilmore put it, "We've never been so happy to put in hours of work on something that didn't happen. We were prepared to step in if Kitra needed us, but she's done everything perfectly on her own so far."

And after nearly a month has passed and the weather has become warmer, Kitra has been helping her baby explore the grounds.

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This gave staff the chance to discover that she had a little girl and the baby's locks of auburn hair made only one name seem appropriate when they found that out.

So they decided to name her Jolene after the titular woman from one of Dolly Parton's most legendary songs and certainly one of her most-covered compositions.

But while Jolene's beauty was a threat in that song, it's just heartwarming in this case.

In Gilmore's words, "Once we confirmed she was a girl, our keeper team knew right away what they wanted to call her. They've been playing the song on repeat ever since!"

And since both Kitra and Jolene are doing well and the orangutan family is becoming more outgoing, there's a good chance that visitors will be able to catch a glimpse of the little one themselves.

But that really depends on how interested Kitra is in seeing the public on a given day.

As Gilmore put it, "Kitra can decide whether she and Jolene are up for a trip outside or if they'd rather have privacy. As Jolene gets older and more curious, we expect them to be outside more and more."

h/t: People