This Critically Endangered Newborn Orangutan Will Melt Your Heart
- 7 years ago
On Sunday, London’s Chester Zoo gained a new inhabitant. At about noon that day, a baby Bornean orangutan came into the world and both mother and child are reported to be doing well.
On Sunday, London’s Chester Zoo gained a new inhabitant.
At about noon that day, a baby Bornean orangutan came into the world and both mother and child are reported to be doing well.
While newborns often create an atmosphere of excitement, this one is considered especially important.
Wild populations of Bornean orangutans, known to exist only in Borneo, are plummeting and the species was upgraded to critically endangered last year.
Threats they face include illegal hunting and a rapidly shrinking habitat range, due in part to the conversion of forests to palm oil plantations.
Chris Yarwood, the zoo’s primate keeper, said of the new arrival, “It has been eight years since we last celebrated the birth of a Bornean orangutan at the zoo but it’s well worth the wait.”
Mammal Curator Tim Rowlands further noted, “It’s…absolutely vital that we have a sustainable population of Bornean orangutans in zoos and every addition to the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme is so, so important."
On Sunday, London’s Chester Zoo gained a new inhabitant.
At about noon that day, a baby Bornean orangutan came into the world and both mother and child are reported to be doing well.
While newborns often create an atmosphere of excitement, this one is considered especially important.
Wild populations of Bornean orangutans, known to exist only in Borneo, are plummeting and the species was upgraded to critically endangered last year.
Threats they face include illegal hunting and a rapidly shrinking habitat range, due in part to the conversion of forests to palm oil plantations.
Chris Yarwood, the zoo’s primate keeper, said of the new arrival, “It has been eight years since we last celebrated the birth of a Bornean orangutan at the zoo but it’s well worth the wait.”
Mammal Curator Tim Rowlands further noted, “It’s…absolutely vital that we have a sustainable population of Bornean orangutans in zoos and every addition to the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme is so, so important."