Keepers Keen to Help
All of the orangutans start each day with training sessions to help them assist keepers and vets with their own medical checkups. The orangutans learn to present certain body parts, open their mouth upon request, and hold still for occasional injections, all of which makes routine physical exams less stressful for the red apes. While the rest of the orangutans seem to enjoy the interaction with keepers, and particularly the treats they receive as part of the program’s positive reinforcement, Maggie was always a little different. “Before we started this new program, Maggie was hard to work with. She was not always as alert as we’d like her to be and she didn’t seem to be paying attention,” said Lead Keeper Carol Sodaro.

Keepers thought that there were probably underlying health issues for Maggie. Their concerns were confirmed when they saw a conference presentation about an animal with similar issues and behaviors. That animal was eventually diagnosed with a hypothyroid problem. Keepers and vets began testing Maggie more closely, and it turned out that she had the same condition.

Armed with this information, keepers and vets began Maggie’s makeover. They started by putting her on thyroxin (an oral medication for her thyroid problem), created a new diet, and set up a new training regime. And like all extreme makeovers, they are even getting her teeth fixed!

Before

After!

Food Fixup
In the past, the keepers tried to deal with Maggie’s weight issue by altering her diet, but it never worked. Now, with the drug helping to normalize her body chemistry, Maggie is shedding her flab. “She could still lose 10 pounds now that her thyroid levels are normal," said Sodaro. But she and the rest of the keepers are thrilled by Maggie’s progress.

Orangutans are basically vegetarians (though they do sometimes eat insects and eggs), so they have a pretty healthy diet to begin with, but keepers are helping the weight loss along by putting Maggie on a special, even-higher-fiber diet. She has been getting lots of leafy food and high-fiber biscuits. That diet, along with some new human medicine suggested by experts in human geriatrics at the Mayo Clinic, has helped fix a problem that may have had a lot to do with her moodiness---ongoing constipation!

Maggie’s Extreme Team
If you have seen the makeovers on TV, you know that these changes require a lot of help. Maggie has gotten special care from the keepers in Tropic World, and the zoo’s veterinary staff. For example, the vets need to regularly monitor Maggie’s blood to watch her thyroid levels. Thanks to Maggie’s new training and her new attitude, she will soon know how to slip her own arm into a blood sleeve, allowing keepers to take a small sample without having to sedate her---less stress for Maggie and for the keepers!

And while diet and the new training program are making a big impact on Maggie’s health, twenty years of orangutan obesity definitely takes its toll. To make sure that there are not other issues, cardiologists from Loyola are doing annual heart exams.

With her weight and her skin under control, keepers have turned to another concern: her teeth. They were not in good condition, but due to her poor training record, there was little keepers could do to help. After her transformation, that has changed. Now, Maggie gets occasional visits from an outside dentist. While she may not be getting porcelain veneers, Maggie’s improvements in training mean that soon keepers will be able to brush her teeth and monitor their condition much more closely. Sodaro says that Maggie has learned the first step that makes any dentist happy---learning to open her mouth as though she were saying “aaah.”

All of this makeover magic means that Maggie is making remarkable progress in her training. Keepers say that she picks things up more quickly now, because she seems to be far more focused. She has begun working with keepers to take part in a special training program to allow voluntary injections. This will be important in the future as she will need to have her blood monitored regularly to look at her thyroid levels. By learning to take part in this process, Maggie avoids a lot of the trauma and stress that would otherwise accompany this process. This process is so important, that Tropic World keepers try to make sure that all the apes in the exhibit are trained for injections.

Maggie’s trademark red hair is now lush and full of body….while her formerly lush body is newly svelte! She goes on exhibit (or, in TV terms, does her “dramatic reveal”) in Tropic World/Asia on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with two younger orangutans, Mukah and Brunei. Now that she seems to be feeling better, Maggie is much more likely to play with the other guys---and who can blame this newly madeover ape for enjoying the attention?

America has been gripped in makeover madness, but extreme makeovers are not reserved for television shows---or even humans! Keepers in Tropic World have helped with a transformation that would make Oprah and the “Extreme Team” gasp with amazement.

Maggie Orangutan came to Brookfield Zoo in 1995 with a serious weight problem, dry and brittle hair, bad skin, and a lack of focus in her life. She is one of the three oldest orangutans in North American zoos. As she has aged, keepers grew increasingly concerned---Maggie was overweight, her skin was dry and cracked, and she had problems digesting her food. Compounding their worries was Maggie’s lack of focus during training sessions.

Keepers knew this red haired girl was due for a change….and a few months back, the zoo’s veterinarians came up with the diagnosis for her problems, and worked with keepers to develop a plan to update Maggie’s looks and her lifestyle. They have created a makeover routine that has helped Maggie lose 83 pounds, cleared up her skin, revitalized her hair, and seems to have brought about a whole new attitude in this aging ape!