MATSUYAMA, April 4 – A zoo in western Japan aims to breed endangered orangutans by pairing a male at the zoo with a female from an Indonesian zoo under a rare wildlife conservation agreement.
Hayato, a 15-year-old male Bornean orangutan at Tobe Zoological Park of Ehime Prefecture, has reached breeding age, but the zoo has struggled to find him a partner as the species is limited in Japan and listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
A turning point came in 2018, when Taman Safari Indonesia proposed launching a joint orangutan conservation project with the prefecture-run zoo, a facility that has previously succeeded in breeding Sumatran orangutans.
Ehime Prefecture and Indonesia signed a wildlife conservation agreement in 2024, followed by a breeding loan agreement between the two zoos in April 2025. Tobe zoo welcomed a female Bornean orangutan named Jennifer in December 2025, bringing the total number of orangutans at the zoo to three, including a Sumatran orangutan.
The 15-year-old female has been on public display since March and is already drawing many visitors. Borneo orangutans enter breeding age between 12 and 15.
“She is smart, gentle, and loves to eat, especially oranges from Ehime Prefecture,” said her keeper, Eriko Inoue.
“We hope this matchmaking is successful,” she said, adding that she hopes visitors will learn about the situation facing wild orangutans through Jennifer.
