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Celebrity orang-utan Ah Meng gave birth to her fifth baby in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The proud daddy is 12-year-old Pusang, a Sumatran male orang utan from Perth Zoo.
This came as a relief after months of apprehension. Her last baby was stillborn. Ah Meng is 25 years old.
Despite all the zoo staff's precautions, the birth slipped by without a human witness.
"We estimated the birth to be in late July or early August, not so early," explained head keeper Mr Sam Alagappasamy. He was among the first to discover the birth.
"We did have some indications though. She wasn't taking much food and she took to lying down for the past two days," he added.
"When I went to her den in the morning, I was shocked to see blood on the floor. I knew she had given birth, but I was scared the baby had not survived," Mr Alagappasamy recalled.
Ah Meng had injured herself during a fall in 1984. This might have caused last year's stillbirth.
"But when I went near and touched the baby, it gripped my finger."
Ah Meng's first baby was Hsing Hsing (male). He is now in Perth Zoo. The next was Medan, female, and Hong Boa, a male, came three years later.
The zoo was firm in not allowing press photographs.
"Only people whom Ah Meng is familiar with can go near her during this period," said Mr Alagappasamy.
Ah Meng will be on 'maternity leave' for two weeks.
This article was first published in The New Paper on July 12, 1990.
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