Orangutan Shows Off Her New Baby at the San Diego Zoo

A two-week-old female Sumatran orangutan was healthy enough to be on exhibit this weekend at the San Diego Zoo.

A new photo released by the zoo shows the baby cradled by her mother, Indah, who inspects her baby’s hands and fingers. The baby has shaggy, reddish-orange hair in tufts. She was born with spindly arms, longer than her body, and a natural instinct to hold tightly to her mother.

Indah gave birth to the baby Oct. 25 in her off-exhibit bedroom under the watchful eyes of keepers. Staff report the little primate is healthy, nursing, and being very well taken care of by her protective and attentive mother.

This is the second baby born to Indah, and dad, Satu, who shares the same habitat but takes no role in caring for the youngster.

The baby and her mother can be seen in their exhibit on Orangutan Trail or watched on the Zoo's Ape Cam at www.sandiegozoo.org/apecam.

Orangutans are native to the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The Sumatran orangutan is critically endangered, with an estimate of less than 7,000 remaining in the wild.