Tender loving care for baby orangutan

Roux, a baby orangutan born last Christmas Eve, grips Kelsey Forbes’ fingers as she lifts him to strengthen his grip and arm muscles on Feb 22, at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, the United States. — Photos: AP

The two-month-old critically endangered orangutan, still so tiny that infant-sized diapers hung loosely in front of his belly, clung tightly to a caretaker’s fingers as she lifted him gently from her lap.

Roux, born Christmas Eve 2021, needs to get strong enough to hold onto his mother 24 hours a day – and 12-year-old Menari is the “wild child” of the Audubon Zoo’s orangutans, said Kelsey Forbes, the assistant curator of primates.