Chahinkapa Zoo Welcomes 24 YO Orangutan

Well, this zoo is all excited about their "new feature", Oh goody more money from the visitors. They waited 5 years for him. Now he will be all alone without another Orangutan. If they had so much problem getting this one, how many more years will it be before they get another Orangutan so Tally doesn't have to live the rest of his life alone. What a shame, what a real shame. Also, even if they do get another one, who's to say they will even get along. I hope when the visitors come to see him they feel sorry for him, which is how they should feel. Put yourself in any animals life that has noone of it's own species, locked away, stared at, yelled at and see if that would make your life complete.
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The wait is over! The Chahinkapa zoo has a new guest. Cages are prepped, people are trained, and the 5-year wait is over. The zoo has its first orangutan.


Talukan is a 24-year old Orangutan. It recently arrived here at the Chahinkapa zoo in Wahpeton. He's going through a re-adjustment phase so we couldn't video tape him. These pictures came from zookeepers.
The staff calls him Tally for short. His room has fire hoses, puzzles and hammocks. Zookeepers say he's extremely smart and their job is to actually find challenges for Tally.

"Things we would give Gibbon Apes or Spider Monkeys, who also are intelligent animals, but not nearly the intelligence of an Orangutan. What we would give them they'd take all day on. If we give it to Tally, he's going to have it finished in 10 minutes because that's how smart he is."

To give you an idea of just how strong orangutans are and how much they like to fiddle with things, the bolts in his cage had to be welded down otherwise he'd end up taking them apart. The zoo opens back up this spring and there will also be a welcoming tally celebration sometime in the summer.
Story Credit Here and Photo