ALL I WANT IS A MUMMY

Abandoned at birth,the baby orangutang hoping to find a family in UK.

She cannot sit up on her own and she certainly is not swinging fearlessly through the trees just yet.But right now the only thing Rieke the baby orangutang wants is a new mum.She was abandoned at birth six weeks agowhen her eleven year old motherrejected her.Now,like any young orphan,she is looking for a grown up to adopt her.In different circumstances,Reike would be spending her formative months clinging to her mother and learning the ways of an orangutang tribe.Instead she has spent all her short life being cared for by humans.Like any baby,she needs her nappy changing,suckles from a bottle and makes squeaking noises when she wants attension.She even has a snuggly blanket to comfort her.But it,s no substitute for a mothers love.Four keepers at Monkey world in Dorset,England take it in turns to look after her so she does not get too attached to just one of them.Soon however,she will be introduced to adult orangutangs in the hope that she can find a family and someone to ape.Reike was moved on monday from Berlin zoo,where she was born on january twelve weighing just four pounds.The zoo wanted her to grow up in as natural an enviroment as possible and Monkey World already cares for a tribe of eighteen orangutangs,one of which,it is hoped will become her stepmother.Crucially there is also another oranutang there to play with-Balu Mata a five month oldwhose mother died after giving birth to him at a zoo in Budapest.Yesterday the pair were said to be bonding perfectly.Having a big brother to show her the ropes will be a hugh advantage in Reikes development.Orangutangs are the most intelligent great apes and are critically endangered in their indonesian homelands-some experts believe the species could be extinct withing twenty five years.Monkey World ste up in 1987,currently has 250 rescued primates from twenty species,plus one little girl one,who just wants to be loved.