Baby orangutan greets visitors to city zoo
Orangutan baby Hei Niu with her toys.
Orangutan baby Hei Niu.
An 8-month-old orangutan, the fruit of cooperation between zoos in Shanghai and Nanjing in neighboring Jiangsu Province, has been greeting visitors to Shanghai Zoo.
The parents of Hei Niu, a female born on September 14, are Xiao Hei at Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo and Lu Lu at Shanghai Zoo.
Orangutans are listed as endangered in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Breeding is very difficult and it usually takes eight years for one birth in the wild, Shanghai Zoo said.
To expand the population, national selection on the matching of the species was conducted in 2015.
Xiao Hei and Lu Lu were selected as the best pair because they are close in age and of the same subspecies but not related, the zoo said.
In the summer of 2015, Lu Lu traveled to Nanjing and fell into love with Xiao Hei, who is active and strong, the zoo said.
Hei Niu is named after her father Xiao Hei, meaning little black, while Niu means girl.
The cub is fed with baby formula four times a day and is growing healthily.
Visitors are being reminded to keep quiet and not knock on the glass when they see the baby. They should also turn off their flash when taking photos.
Hippo baby Xi Dan.
Meanwhile, a 1-month-old male baby hippo has been named Xi Dan following suggestions by the public.
Xi means happy while Dan means egg.
The hippo is the fourth offspring of the zoo's star animal Xiao Dong Xi.
Xiao Dong Xi takes good care of her youngest child and stays with him all the time.
