For thirty-one-year-old Mawar it was her fourth offspring, for nineteen-year-old male Pagy only the first one. And the new-born baby became the first grandchild of our famous Kama (1971 – 2013). He was also born in Prague to parents originating from the wild. Although Kama was hand reared – the keeper Ms Gottfriedová was even carrying him in a baby pram – he had two sons: Filip, who is living in Bratislava, and Pagy, who had now become a father. Yes, I agree that it is complicated, but this genealogical tree has a relevance here: the newly born baby is the only great grandchild of orangutans Soňa and Bimbo, who came to the zoo from the Sumatra forests. Therefore, it carries extraordinarily valuable genes, and so it is very important for the future of orangutans’ breeding in Europe.

The first photo of the baby, still wet, was taken by the head keeper Martin Vojáček by mobile phone and from a distance. However, in the afternoon the orangutans – including Mawar and the baby – went out of the “bedrooms” to the exhibit in the Indonesian Jungle. In the fading autumn light, from a gallery below the roof from behind netting and partly also plants, I could take the first detailed photos of our new born orangutan. I had to wait a little while until Mawar built a nest and made herself comfortable in it, so I could somehow see the baby. But the view was worthwhile!

The birth of the baby of course generated a great deal of attention and also questions about what its sex is and how it will be named. We did not know yet whether it was a male or female and could only guess when we would get this information. But after all a gender-neutral name could be picked up for the baby. We received plenty of proposals – mostly connected to November 17. For example, Velvet or Freedom.

However, since the beginning it was essential that the baby thrived, and that Mawar continued taking good care for it. After its first days, touch wood, all went well. Another series of photos, taken two days after the baby’s birth in the sealed Indonesian Jungle, proved that. Justifiably we could hope that all would continue to go well and that on every November 17 we would celebrate also the birthday of the third “Prague” orangutan. In those times affected by COVID-19 for us this was hugely encouraging.