The zoo’s Orangutan Care Team provides various foods every day. Each orangutan has a diverse diet of nutrient-filled foods that they get every day.
They will get not only biscuits but also a green diet, vegetable diet, and fruit diet. Typically, an orangutan will get three to four different types of vegetables.
Orangutans are intelligent primates, and just like how people prefer their food, they also have a preference. An orangutan may refuse their food if they're not pleased with it, so the keepers chop and cut the vegetables differently each day so that the orangutan wouldn’t notice if the vegetable are the same for two days in a row.
Each orangutan has a different preference for how they enjoy their foods, which can be extremely peculiar. For example, Benny, one of the orangutans at the zoo, prefers spiralized zucchini and enjoys playing with his food before eating it.
There are also juvenile females like Keju or the supermom Madu who enjoyed eating anything that is offered. There are also orangutans in Zoo Atlanta who are picky with their foods.
The orangutan keepers must learn and get to know each individual and the different group dynamics. Like humans, orangutans need time to get to know people to be friends and build trust. By building trust, orangutan keepers will be able to take better care of them.