NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A baby orangutan at the Audubon Zoo is ready to get his name!
Handlers have waited since he was born on Christmas Eve to narrow down a selection of names, and now they want the public to help decide the winner.
Read more: The Audubon Zoo’s baby orangutan shows signs of improvement
The names are as follows:
- Rudy - short for Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in honor of the infant’s December 24 birthday and the name of Notre Dame football’s famous underdog who beat the odds
- Roux - French for a reddish-brown like the color of an orangutan’s fur and the thickening base used to make gumbo
- Maymuun - a name meaning fortunate, blessed, or one who thrives in Sumatra, the native habitat of Sumatran orangutans
And you can vote here. Voting closes on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m.
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The infant’s team has been watching him 24/7 and bottle feeding him since he was born. His twin was stillborn. The zoo’s staff is still waiting on necropsy results to determine what happened.
He spends most of his days getting to meet the rest of the orangutan group visually but still separated.
Due largely to the loss of habitat, Sumatran orangutans are listed as “critically endangered,” according to scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Orangutan infants in similar difficulty at other zoos have been reintroduced to parents sometimes at three or four months old. Assuming things go well, they will have some time together before the big public debut.
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Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2022 WVUE. All rights reserved.