This adorable baby is the newest addition to the family at the Phoenix Zoo. The four orangutans, three female and one male, are scheduled to get a new habitat, but money must first be raised for a night house which will be their temporary shelter during the renovations. If enough money is not raised, then the orangutans will have to go to another facility until the renovations are complete. This is not fair to them, especially to Dutchess, the oldest female (and grandma to the baby), who was one of the zoo's first inhabitants and is one of the oldest living orangutans in captivity.
Though zoos are problematic, the zoo keepers genuinely love the animals and are passionate about making their lives better. Unfortunately, because of the loss of natural habitat, hunters, poachers, famine, and civil war, many animals are facing extinction. Scientists estimate that there will be no orangutans in the wild in as little as five years. Consequently, zoos play an important role in preserving species.
Please do what you can to help. A link to the Phoenix Zoo is below, and you can make a donation there. There is also time to buy a raffle ticket to benefit the orangutans. Details are in this blog entry.
Phoenix Zoo
I will have to go with Liz for a visit, we haven't been to the zoo since Christmas.
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