Indonesia's orangutan population increases after a newborn birth at conservation centre: Video

The birth of a baby orangutan in Indonesia has ignited hope against the predicted extinction of the species due to low population.

After 13 long years of trying to mate Susi, the 15-year-old mother orangutan, Kasang Kulim conservation centre saw the birth of Ade on May 2 after a 10-month-long pregnancy.

"Thank God, after about 13 years here, we tried to mate the orangutan mother, and it managed to get pregnant. The pregnancy was 10 months long until the baby was born on May 2," Agustina, the manager of the Kasang Kulim conservation centre, told AFP.

Over 75% of the world’s orangutan population resides in the forests of Indonesian Borneo.

Orangutans are particularly vulnerable to hunters due to their large size and slow movements. They are often killed for meat or in retaliation when they encroach on farmland and damage crops — a behaviour that typically arises when food becomes scarce in their natural forest habitat.

They are especially vulnerable due to their very low reproductive rate. Females typically give birth to a single infant only once every 3 to 5 years, making population recovery from declines a slow process.