Perth Zoo orangutan Puteri turns 50

It’s a double celebration for Perth Zoo, with the facility’s oldest female orangutan Puteri turning 50 today, just a week after the zoo reopened to the public.

Puteri, a female Sumatran orangutan, is regarded as a special member of the family at Perth Zoo.

She is described as a ‘gentle soul’ who is very maternal and loves watching human children from her exhibit.

When any of zoologists are pregnant, she has also been known to gently stroke their bellies.

The zoo said 50 was a “great age” for an orangutan, with those in the wild lucky to reach their late 40s.

Puteri is Perth Zoo’s oldest female orangutan and mother to Temara, who made history as the first zoo-born orangutan to be released into the wild in 2006.

Puteri’s other daughters, Utama and Teliti are still at the zoo.

In 2018 the zoo farewelled Puan who, at 62, was then the oldest Sumatran orangutan in the world.