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Mameh, newborn baby orangutan in Aceh
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An orangutan named Mongki, carrying its newborn baby Mameh, hangs on a tree in Jantho, Aceh, on Nov. 7. Mameh was the second orangutan to be born in the Jantho conservation forest after Marconi was discovered on Sept. 11. (SOCP/MUKHLISIN)
R
angers at the Jantho conservation forest in Aceh Besar, Aceh, were carrying out routine monitoring when they found a female orangutan named Mongki carrying a baby orangutan on Nov. 7.
The team believed it was Mongki’s baby. They have subsequently named the baby animal Mameh, which means “sweet” in the local language.
“Mameh is the second baby orangutan born in the Jantho reintroduction forest,” said Ian Singleton, the director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP), which manages the forest in collaboration with the Aceh Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
Mongki was released into the wild in Jantho in 2011.
Mongki had previously been spotted three times this year.
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On Sept. 11, a baby orangutan was also found in Jantho. The animal, which is named Marconi, is predicted to be 1.5 years old now.
Singleton said his team had been working on increasing the wild orangutan population in the area.
The manager of the Orangutan Reintroduction and Release Center in Jantho, Muhklisin, said the births of the two orangutans were crucial in efforts to prevent the species from going extinct.
“This is a great start. At the end of the day, there will be more and more orangutans that are wild and do not come into contact with humans,” Mukhlisin said. (bbs)
