An orangutan at a Cleveland zoo has become the first such animal in North America to receive an implanted birth control device.
The Plain Dealer reports that a Cleveland Clinic women’s health specialist made a house call at the zoo recently to demonstrate how to implant the contraceptive. It’s about 1½ inches long, slightly thicker than pencil lead and is meant for humans.
General curator Geoffrey Hall says the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo doesn’t want the young Bornean orangutan named Kira to breed, at least not yet. The procedure went well, and Kira was back on her feet within hours.
In exchange for her help, the clinic’s Dr. Judith Volkar was given a backstage tour of the zoo’s more exotic animals and got to sit on a giant tortoise.
If Outliers had a giant tortoise joke, we’d put it here. But you’ve got us stumped, Cleveland.
