The birth of a baby orangutan in Indonesia is offering a glimmer of hope for the critically endangered species, which faces potential extinction due to declining populations.
After 13 years of attempts to mate Susi, a 15-year-old orangutan, the Kasang Kulim conservation centre celebrated the birth of Ade on May 2, following a 10-month pregnancy.
“Thank God, after about 13 years here, we tried to mate the orangutan mother, and it managed to get pregnant. The pregnancy was 10 months long until the baby was born on May 2,” Agustina, the manager of the Kasang Kulim conservation centre, told AFP.
Over 75% of the world’s orangutan population lives in the forests of Indonesian Borneo.
Orangutans are particularly susceptible to hunting due to their large size and slow movements. They are often killed for meat or in retaliation for damaging crops when they venture onto farmland – a behavior typically driven by food scarcity in their natural forest habitat.
The species is also vulnerable due to its low reproductive rate. Females typically give birth to only one infant every 3 to 5 years, making population recovery a slow and challenging process.
