Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Welcomes Endangered Baby Orangutan — and Needs Help Naming the Newborn

The zoo is allowing guests to vote on a name for the baby Bornean orangutan by making a donation under the monikers Halim, Rimba or Zaki

Photo: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has a new baby male orangutan!

The Ohio zoo announced on Tuesday that its beloved female Bornean orangutan, Kera Wak, gave birth on April 28.

The arrival is the first successful orangutan birth at the zoo since 2014 — when Kera welcomed her first offspring, Merah — and the fifth since the opening of the zoo's rainforest exhibit in 1992.

"We're thrilled to announce the birth of our new male orangutan, who will serve as an important ambassador for the decreasing number of Bornean orangutans in the wild," Dr. Chris Kuhar, the executive director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, said in a statement.

To celebrate the momentous occasion, the zoo is allowing guests to vote on a name for the newborn by making a donation in support of orangutan conservation under the monikers Halim, Rimba or Zaki.

According to the zoo, Kera and her baby have already joined dad Tiram and the rest of the family at the orangutan habitat.

Bornean orangutans are currently listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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Threatened by illegal hunting, habitat destruction, and palm oil plantations, the species' wild population have decreased by more than 50 percent in just 15 years. It's estimated that 55,000 wild Bornean orangutans left on the island of Borneo in Indonesia — the only place the species can be found in the wild.

"By helping to name the orangutan, we hope to inspire a closer connection and appreciation for orangutans and the critical threats the species face in the wild," said Kuhar.