An endangered Sumatran orangutan infant made its public debut this morning at the Audubon Zoo.
The zoo says the infant, born on February 28, will have access to the outdoor orangutan habitat with the rest of Audubon Zoo's orangutan group.
The infant is the first offspring of the Zoo’s 12-year-old orangutan Reese and was the result of successful breeding with Jambi, the Zoo’s male orangutan. This is Reese’s first child.
Sumatran orangutans have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as "critically endangered" and therefore threatened with extinction-there are fewer than 14,000 living in the wild and their numbers are declining, mainly due to human-wildlife contact due to the spread of palm oil plantations into their forest habitat.