Pregnant Orangutan's Morning Sickness Eased With Medicinal Tea At Denver Zoo

Eirina, a pregnant orangutan at the Denver Zoo, is feeling more herself after a bout of morning sickness thanks to her caretaker, Cindy Cossaboon.

When Cossaboon, an animal care specialist at the Denver Zoo, realized that Eirina was struggling with morning sickness during her first pregnancy, she remembered what helped her when she was pregnant.

Cossaboon told PEOPLE that she quickly noticed that Eirina wasn't quite herself early in her pregnancy. She noticed that she was eating less and had less energy.

"She has never been pregnant before. This whole experience is new for her," Cossaboon told PEOPLE. "Eirina had obvious signs of discomfort immediately. She went from playing all day to not wanting to get out of her nest. We would come in, and she would be in her nest, covered in blankets up to her neck. She didn't want anything to eat or drink."

When Eirina arrived at the Denver Zoo in 2016 from the Dortmund Zoo in Germany, she was just 8 years old. With German being Cossaboon's first language and having lived there as a child, the two bonded.

"German is my first language, and I lived in Germany until I was 14. So I understood the culture shock," she explained. "Luckily, I was able to speak to her in German. I like to think that helped with her move to the U.S."

When Cossaboon realized that morning sickness was changing Eirina's mood and nothing was helping, she remembered what helped her when she was early in pregnancy.

"When I was pregnant, I was a high-risk pregnancy, so I started taking this tea hoping it might help. The benefit I found was that it really helped my morning sickness," she explained. "It was one of the few things that made me feel better."

After talking with the veterinarian team, nutrition team and managers, they gave Eirina a "traditional medicinal pregnancy tea" with raspberry leaf, spearmint, fennel fruit and stinging nettle in it. Eirina loved it from the first sip, and it's seemed to help the pregnant orangutan feel better.

Now, Cossaboon and Eirina have a morning routine.

"When I arrive in the morning, I get her tea ready. While it is seeping, I go check on her. She is always still in her nest under her blankets," she explained. "I then go get her tea, and when she sees me coming, she sits up and is ready to drink her tea. After she has had her tea, she is more active and eats her breakfast."

Soon, the orangutan will be a mom. Cossaboon is guessing that by the time school starts back up, there will be a new baby to love at the Denver Zoo.

The Denver Zoo recently shared a video of the soon-to-be new mom enjoying her morning tea on Instagram. The caption explains that the tea is helping her through her pregnancy symptoms.

"We can’t wait to welcome a baby Sumatran orangutan later this summer! As this is Eirina’s first pregnancy, our animal care specialists are carefully monitoring her to ensure everything goes smoothly for our mom-to-be and her new bundle of joy," the caption began.

"Early in her pregnancy, they noticed she wasn’t feeling well in the morning and was showing signs of morning sickness. Our animal care and health teams decided to try giving Eirina a special pregnancy tea to help soothe her tummy. We’re happy to share that this tea has worked wonders! After her morning tea, Eirina is more active and seems to feel better throughout the day. This just so happens to be the same tea that Animal Care Specialist Cindy C. drank when she was pregnant, so she’s delighted that this remedy is helping Eirina feel better as well."

Fans of the zoo popped into the comment section to leave words of support and love for the soon-to-be new mom.

"Yay classic DENVER zoo going above and beyond for the best care of their animals and another endangered species baby makes my heart so happy, congrats I hope the rest of her pregnancy goes well! 🥰," wrote one person.

Another person added, "Oh my gosh. This is wonderful. Thank you for sharing this sweet story. I’m excited to watch Eirina’s progress. Keep us posted, please."

Back in April, the zoo officially announced that Eirina was expecting her first baby.

Tons of congratulatory messages filled the comment section.

"Yay!!! How exciting 🥰🥰 makes my heart smile," one person wrote. "Congratulations Eirina!!! Can't wait to see the baby 🥰," wrote another.