Karta (orangutan)

Karta

Above: Sumatran orangutans
Species	Sumatran orangutan
Sex	Female
Born	22 July 1982 San Diego Zoo
Died	January 2017 (aged 34) Adelaide Zoo
Parent(s)	Helen (mother) Otis (father)
Offspring	Karen

Karta (22 July 1982 – January 2017) was a Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), who is best remembered for her attempts to have a living baby and care for it herself, first at the San Diego Zoo in the United States, and later at Adelaide Zoo in Australia.

Karta was the mother of celebrity orangutan Karen, her one surviving offspring who was handraised by zookeepers and who in 1994 became the first orangutan to undergo open heart surgery. Unable to thrive under Karta's care, Karen was removed and Karta was transferred to Adelaide Zoo, where after a number of baby losses, she was taught baby care and trained to nurse.

Karta made headlines in 2009 when she short circuited the electric fence around her enclosure and made a brief escape. In the same year, she was the face of a national campaign for the conservation of orangutan habitats.

She died during the birth of her stillborn baby in January 2017, following which funds were raised to erect Camp Karta in her name at Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in central Sumatra.