KUCHING: The Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre welcomed a new baby orang utan yesterday.
The baby is the fourth offspring for Analisa, a 26-year-old orangutan, and it is believed she has given birth between Jan 22 and Jan 23.
The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) in a Facebook post yesterday said that Analisa returned to the centre's feeding station with her newborn orang utan around 3.06pm on Sunday after she was last seen on Jan 21.
Thus, it is believed the baby was born on Jan 22 or early morning on Jan 23. Besides, the umbilical cord is still attached to the baby orang utan.
"This is another successful orang utan conservation effort by the Sarawak government and SFC. Besides, we are waiting and expecting another two more deliveries from Selina and Saddamiah," SFC said.
When contacted, a SFC spokesman said they couldn't confirm its gender and no official name has been given yet.
Analisa gave birth to her first baby – Anakku 16 years ago and a second baby in 2012. However, her second baby Digital Guro died prematurely in 2015 at the age of three due to natural causes.
Analisa gave birth to the third baby on Sept 16, 2016. The male orang utan was later named as Mas, the three letter abbreviation code for Malaysia. He is turning six this year.
Currently, Semenggoh has 25 orang utans roaming freely within the centre and the surrounding forest reserve. The 50-year-old female orangutan Seduku is currently the oldest orangutan there.
Semenggoh, located about 30km from the city, was established in 1975 to cater for wildlife that had been rescued, confiscated or found injured in the forests or kept as illegal pets. It is also Sarawak's first wildlife rehabilitation centre.
The centre is also a safe haven and natural habitat for dozens of semi-wild orang utan, where the centre still feeds them fruits.
Those who wish to support SFC conservation works, can join the Orang Utan Adoption Program at https://semenggoh.my/adopt-orangutan/
