Tut and Tiido photo taken in 2008

Tut’s twins were born on October 15, 2009 at Camp Leakey, our facility supported and managed by Orangutan Foundation International, but Tranquillity, the weaker twin of the two, soon died. We named Thor, the stonger twin who survived, for the day of the week that he was born, Thursday. Since both twins were male, it is possible that the twins were identical ones but, of course, we don’t know for sure.

Thor is doing fine. Tut is very protective of him so it’s been difficult to get a good photo. The photo I have put up with today’s post is one I took of Tut in 2008 when her previous infant, a little male named Tiido, was still alive. I named Tiido after the surname of my childhood best friend in Toronto and her family – not the late dictator of Yugoslavia! Tiido was killed by a wild Bornean bearded pig, but survived for hours after being rescued and returned to Tut by our courageous OFI rangers. Unfortunately, Tiido was dead the next morning when Tut emerged from her nest. The OFI rangers heard Tiido crying and whimpering all night long so assumed he would survive. They were sadly mistaken. He must have died of internal injuries. Let’s hope Thor lives up to his name, the God of Thunder, and not only survives but thrives like his older brother Tom who is now the dominant male of the forest around Camp Leakey.

Tom, Tut's adult male son, with fruit in mouth.

Orangutan twins are a rare occurrence in nature! On October 15,2009 an orangutan female named Tut gave birth to twins at Camp Leakey in Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Indonesian Borneo.
She first appeared on the bridge in the morning carrying her two newborn infants . Since one of the twins seemed weak, the Camp Manager contacted OFI’s Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine in Pasir Panjang near Pangkalan Bun to request medical assistance. Unfortunately, the veterinary team was unable to save the male infant who died shortly afterwards. So far the surviving twin is doing well.

This is the first time that orangutan twins have been witnessed at Camp Leakey and/or Tanjung Puting National Park. Since orangutan females frequently come to Camp Leakey with their newborn infants after an absence of several days or more having given birth in forest solitude, it is possible that twins had been previously born but only one survived. In cases like this, when the female finally arrived in camp with the sole surviving twin, there is no way that the assistants or I would have known that the female had initially given birth to twins.

Among humans there are 32 twin live births per 1,000 live births. Living human twins constitute about 1.9% of the world’s human population. Of these, only 8% are identical.

The weak twin did not survive.

We don’t know the equivalent figures for great ape twins. There have been twins born among the wild chimpanzees at Gombe. Melissa, one of the chimpanzees initially studied by Jane Goodall, had twins many years ago sometime in the 1970’s but only one survived. I remember Jane mentioning Melissa’s twins with excitement (at the birth) and sadness (for the death) in a letter she wrote to me at the time and which I received in Camp Leakey. Then in 1998 Melissa’s offspring Gremlin gave birth to a healthy pair of twins, Goldie and Glitta. So it must run in the family! This is also true of humans. That was the comment that actor (the term she perfers as she made clear when she filmed at Camp Leakey)) Julia Roberts made when she was congratulated on the birth of her twins, saying she wasn’t surprised as her family tended to twin.

An orangutan female carrying twins was sighted by observers in the Lower Kinabatangan region in Sabah (one of two Malaysian states on Borneo) during November 2007. This is the first observation of a wild orangutan with twins ever recorded. Unfortunately, it is not known if that particular orangutan female was ever seen again with her twins.

Tut with her twins

Orangutan twins were also seen in 1991 at the Sepilok Rehabilitation Center where the mother was most likely a rehabilitated ex-captive orangutan. There have also been at least three known births of twins in captivity, two in the United States and one in Indonesia.

Among most large mammals who normally give birth to singletons, twins tend to be smaller and have higher neonatal mortality rates. I have read that in deer populations which are hunted, that the does are more likely to give birth to twins rather than single fawns as compared to populations where hunting does not occur. Females also reproduce more quickly and at younger ages. I am speculating wildly here but I wonder if a similar phenomenon could occur in non-human primates due to excessive stress. Who knows?

All I can say is that it took me almost 40 years of observation to see the first twin births among the population of orangutans who are resident in the forests around Camp Leakey. Who knows what else we might see if we have the patience and robustness to observe for another 40 years?

An understandably weary Tut with her twins

They say that a photo is worth a thousand words. Here is the equivalent of a few thousand words: photos of the fires that OFI is facing and fighting in 2009. The extreme droughts that enable human-made fires to blaze throughout Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) and Sumatra seem to be much more frequent than they ever used to be. The last El Nino was in 2006 when over 50 of our OFI assistants fought the fires for almost two months before the fires were brought to a stop.

Some scientists believe that the increasing frequency of El Nino years is related to global climate change. Having lived in Borneo for several decades I suspect that this belief is true.

The eastern part of Tanjung Puting National Park, which is directly next to palm oil plantations, burned in 2006, making it particularly vulnerable to fire again in 2009. It is in this critical area of double jeoparty that the above photos of OFI rangers fighting the fires were taken. Once forest is repeatedly burned, secondary succession is deflected and it is very difficult for the tropical rain forest to return.

At least one thousand of the six thousand wild orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park and its vicinity live on the eastern side of the Park where the fires are currently burning. It is crucial that these fires be stopped for the sake of wild orangutan populations and all wildlife in the area. OFI is doing all it can to make this happen but we need help and funding.

OFI rangers fighting fire on eastern side of Tanjung Puting National Park