Four baby orangutans await foster parents
The Jakarta Post | Sun, 05/03/2009 7:47 PM
Four baby orangutans at the Taman Safari Indonesia II Zoo in Pasuruan, East Java are waiting for foster parents to help them develop.
Zoo manager Michael Sumampau said on Sunday that anyone could be a foster parent to the cubs.
“The baby Kalimantan orangutans, which are around two to seven months old, are currently being taken care of in the zoo's animal hospital,” he said, as reported by Antara state news agency.
Michael said by becoming a foster parent one will have the honor of naming the chosen baby and of visiting it at any time at the zoo.
“Foster parents will also have responsibilities, including that of donating Rp 3 million (US$ 282) once every three months to the conservation fund,” he said.
The zoo had separated the cubs from their mothers to speed up the growth of the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) population.
“By doing so however, the costs for nursing the orangutan babies increase, which is why we need foster parents for them,” he said.
Environmentalists reported the population of Kalimantan orangutans in the wild was only around 54,000 in 2004 and warned that if no measures were taken to protect the animals, they would face extinction by 2015. There have been efforts to protect the orangutan species in the country since 1931. (adh)
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