Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo is using a tiny symbol of hope to highlight a large-scale, increasingly dire situation.

Zoo officials introduced a newborn female Borean orangutan, a highly endangered species, to the public. Born Oct. 6 at Brookfield and weighing about 5 pounds, the little orangutan, who so far is unnamed, is only the second birth of an orangutan expected in a North American zoo this year. The new orangutan is on exhibit in the zoo’s Tropic World.

On October 23, she clung to her mother’s side, looking healthy and contented. The outlook for the species is far more foreboding.

About 61,000 orangutans remain in the world, down from more than 120,000 that roamed wild in the early 1990s, said Nava Greenblatt, lead keeper of primates for the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo. At the current rate of decline, researchers contend that the animals, which share about 97 percent of their DNA with humans, will be extinct by 2025.

“The birth of this infant is significant to the zoo population,” Greenblatt said, “but hopefully her birth will also help raise awareness regarding the plight of orangutans in the wild.”

The problem, Greenblatt and others contend, is the decimation of the rain forest islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the natural habitats for orangutans. Thousands of acres of the rain forests are being logged and converted to palm oil plantations. Companies increasingly are using the oil in foods and candles.

Saving the habitat may require an awareness campaign similar to the one that promoted “dolphin-safe tuna” Greenblatt said.

“This is a huge problem,” she said. “What conservation organizations are trying to do right now is reduce the consumption and demand for palm oil and to make sure that any palm oil used is done so in a sustainable way.”

As part of International Orangutan Week, the zoo on Nov. 15 and 16 will host a craft activity and presentation about orangutans. More information about orangutans’ plight is available at www.orangutan.net.

(Source: Chicago Tribune)