Baby orangutan entertains visitors to Czech zoo

USTI NAD LABEM, Czech Republic - Reuters

REUTERS photo

A three-week-old baby orangutan charmed crowds at a Czech zoo on one of its first public outings, clinging tight to its mother and attempting a few clumsy climbs. 

Baby Cantik, whose sex has yet to be determined but keepers believe is female, was born at the Usti nad Labem zoo last month, the fifth child of mother Nuninka, with whom she was seen playing on Tuesday. 

Cantik, whose father Nunak appeared in a 1989 Czech film "Two people in the zoo", is in good health, the zoo said. 

"Delivery was problem-free and very fast. The ape keeper had the chance to watch it. The baby was delivered, the mother cleaned it and now the baby is growing fine," zoo spokeswoman Vera Vrabcova told Reuters. 

Nuninka's first baby died but three other males have since been transferred to other zoos in Germany and Holland. 

Orangutans live up to the age of 40 in the wild but can live into their 50s in captivity. A female can give birth only every five years at most, which means she will typically not have more than around five babies in her lifetime. 

The great ape is a critically endangered species in its native habitat in the jungles of southeast Asia.