Advertisement

Your morning adorable: Critically endangered Sumatran orangutan born in Israeli zoo

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Staff at Israel’s Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan (also known as the Ramat Gan Safari) are celebrating the birth of a healthy Sumatran orangutan baby last week.

The baby, a male who hasn’t yet been named, is the first orangutan to be born at the zoo in a decade. At 41, his mother, Rochale, is the oldest female orangutan in residence there. Father Mooshon is 42.

Advertisement

Sumatran orangutans are genetically distinct from the more well-known Bornean orangutans. While Bornean orangutans are endangered, Sumatran orangutans are considered critically endangered; only about 7,300 are believed to remain in the wild. Last year, wildlife trade monitoring organization TRAFFIC released a report that suggested the pet trade was increasingly jeopardizing the species’ population.

See more photos of baby and mother after the jump (and if that’s not enough baby-orangutan goodness for you, ZooBorns has another set of photos).

RELATED ENDANGERED-SPECIES BIRTHS:
Your morning adorable: Black rhinoceros calf sticks close to mom at German zoo
Your morning adorable: Critically endangered Amur leopard cub is born in Germany

-- Lindsay Barnett

Advertisement