The Indianapolis Zoo baby orangutan officially has a name!
The community was invited to help choose a name for the new face at the Simon Skjodt International Orangutan Center – a female infant orangutan born to Zoo favorite Sirih. Five names were preselected including Kiki, Kitri and Mila, and Zoo Facebook fans cast thousands of votes to determine the winning moniker.
Today Zoo officials said “We’re happy to announce that the winning name is Mila (MEE-lah), which means ‘dear one.'”
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The Zoo welcomed the historic first orangutan birth at 5:07pm on March 23. Mila is the second baby for 23-year-old mother Sirih, who came to the Zoo last year from the Frankfurt Zoo in Germany. Both mom and Mila continue to do very well. Sirih is a caring and attentive mother, doing everything an orangutan mom should do. She keeps her daughter close, though guests can still catch glimpses of the youngster clinging tightly to mom’s chest as she climbs around the Center.
MORE INFO: The Indianapolis Zoo is located at 1200 W. Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis. Hours are 9am-4pm Mon-Thurs and 9am-5pm Fri-Sun. The Indianapolis Zoo Babies are presented by Hendricks Regional Health. Call {317} 630-2001 or visit the Zoo website for more details.
