Photo credited to Singapore Zoological Gardens.
Singapore Zoological Garden’s most famous icon, Ah Meng an orangutan has died on Friday 8 Feb 2008 due to old age.
Ah Meng was 48 years old, equivalent in human terms to nearly 95 years. She was featured in a pro gramme called “Breakfast with an Orang-Utan” which allowed visitors of the Singapore Zoological Gardens to have breakfast and their photographs taken.
She had her share of lime-light been visited by Prince Philip, Michael Jackson, Elizabthe Taylor, David Copperfield during her life-span. Not forgetting her will be the nation that adored her.
Chapters below are taken from Yahoo News.
“A lot of people, both local and foreigners, have enjoyed her company. I’m sure the patrons of the zoo will miss her,” Singapore President S.R. Nathan told the Straits Times.
Because of her celebrity status, the Singapore Tourism Board in 1992 made Ah Meng a special ambassador, the first and only non-human recipient of the award.
“We mourn the passing of Ah Meng,” Fanny Lai, group chief executive of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said in a statement.
“She has touched the hearts of everyone who has met her and contributed immensely in helping promote awareness of how each and every one of us can play a role in anti-poaching, anti-deforestation and conservation matters.”
Zoo staff said a “memorial service” will be held on Sunday to allow the public to view the body before it is buried.
Ah Meng is survived by four children and six grandchildren, the zoo said, adding that as a tribute to the ape, the next newborn orangutan to be born at the zoo will be named Ah Meng Junior.
To date, the Singapore Zoo has successfully bred 33 orangutans in captivity, with some of them sent on breeding loans and exchanges to other zoos worldwide.
Ah MengÂs eldest son, Hsing Hsing, is currently in Perth Zoo, Australia, the Singapore Zoo said.
Orangutans, tree-living apes native to Borneo and Sumatra, are listed as endangered by the Swiss-based World Conservation Union. It says numbers have fallen by “well over” 50 percent in the past 60 years as a result of lost habitat as well as poaching and the pet trade.
Indonesia is currently home to nearly 62,000 of the popular primates.
The United States’ development arm USAID, which is providing assistance and funding to Indonesia to protect the species from extinction, has said a 2004 survey found deforestation had led to the deaths of 3,000 orangutans per year since the 1970s.
I’m proud of our Ah Meng. Tell me how many individual animals have got their own Wiki page!?!? We’re all gonna miss Ah Meng. May she Rest In Peace.
More on Ah Meng at Singapore Zoological Gardens & Reuters
About 4,000 show up to pay final respects at Ah Meng’s funeral.Source from here.
