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Thursday, March 17, 2011

So human: Adoring look of the mother orang-utan cradling her newborn baby


It's a tender moment that will resonate with any parent cradling their child.

Sumatran orang-utan Comel holds her newborn son as he sleeps in her loving embrace.

The baby was born at Singapore Zoo and is the great-grandson of Ah Meng who featured on numerous ad campaigns for Singapore's tourism industry.

The baby is the 36th orang-utan to be born at Singapore Zoo

Sumatran orang-utan Comel holds her newborn son as he sleeps in her loving embrace. The baby is the 36th orang-utan to be born at Singapore Zoo

As well as being enormously popular with the city-state's public, she even got to meet Prince Philip, Elizabeth Taylor and Bjorn Borg.

Ah Meng, who died in 2008 aged 48, had been smuggled illegally into the country. She was given a home at the Singapore Zoo in 1971.

The Sumatran orang-utan is a critically endangered species with just 7,500 left living in the wild.

Now, zookeepers want help from Facebook users to help name Comel's child who is the 36th orang-utan to be born at the zoo and has already attracted thousands of visitors.

Monkeying around: This baby's great grandmother met the Prince Philip, Elizabeth Taylor and Bjorn Borg

Monkeying around: This baby's great grandmother met the Prince Philip, Elizabeth Taylor and Bjorn Borg

There are four choices - Ah Boy, Bino, Terang and Xing Xing.

Zookeepers say he is friendly and always has a smile and Ah Boy is a common term of endearment for boys in Singapore.

Bino means 'brave' in Bahasa Indonesia while Terang is Malayan for 'bright'.

Finally, Xing Xing which is Chinese for both 'star' and 'ape'.

There are two weeks left to go and at the moment Bino is the most popular name.

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