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Zoo hopes birth of critically endangered orangutan is start of new generation
Image source, Blackpool Zoo
A critically endangered orangutan has been born at a zoo as part of a scheme to protect them.
The male arrival is a Bornean orangutan, which is a species at 'extremely high' risk of extinction in the wild according to International Union for Conservation of Nature.
He is the first of the species to be born at Blackpool Zoo in 20 years.
The zoo's director Darren Webster hopes the new arrival is the "start of a new generation" of orangutans there.
The population of Bornean orangutan is predicted to fall by 86% from 1950 to 2025, because of habitat loss.
The orangutans at Blackpool Zoo are part of the European Endangered Species Programme.
The baby's mother, Jingga, came over from Barcelona in 2017, this is her first birth.
She is part of a group of five orangutans that live in a facility specially designed for the animals.
Image source, Getty Images