Ah Meng (born circa 18 June 1960) is a famous female Sumatran Orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore. June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is the rarest of the 2 species of orangutan. ...

Ah Meng was recovered from a local Chinese family in 1971, who had kept her as an illegal pet. She belongs to the species of Sumatran Orangutan which is a rarer breed of orangutan, now critically endangered due to logging and poaching, with only about 7,500 members left in the wild in the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia. The Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is the rarest of the 2 species of orangutan. ... A rainforest is a forested biome with high annual rainfall. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the third largest island of Indonesia after Borneo (of which Kalimantan belongs to Indonesia) and New Guinea. ...

With her amicable behaviour and delightful facial expressions, Ah Meng has become popular, winning many fans, and was chosen to be the poster girl of Singapore Zoo. Her pictures have been shown in Singapore's tourism advertisements throughout the world. She was featured in more than 30 travel films and was written about in more than 300 articles. Entrance to the Singapore Zoo. ...

Ah Meng interacts comfortably with humans, and could be seen shaking hands and having meals with zoo visitors in a special "Breakfast with an Orangutan" programme organised by the zoo. Among the foreign dignitaries and celebrities she has hosted were Prince Philip of Britain and pop star Michael Jackson. By allowing visitors closer interaction with Ah Meng and other orangutans, Singapore Zoo has more effectively raised public awareness of the importance of preserving the orangutan's natural habitat and other environmental issues. This article is about modern humans. ... HRH The Duke of Edinburgh His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten), styled HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (born June 10, 1921), is the consort of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ... For other people with the same name, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation) Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana) is an American musician and entertainer whose successful music career and controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the last quarter-century. ...

Ah Meng is the head of her small clan that lives in a large orangutan enclosure within the zoo, with about twenty other orangutans. She has five children and became a grandmother for the first time in 1990. As she ages, her appearances in public are becoming less common for fear of subjecting her to too much pressure.

In 1992, the Singapore Tourism Board conferred Ah Meng with a "Special Tourism Ambassador" award in recognition of her contribution to Singapore's tourism industry. The Singapore Tourism Board is a government agency in Singapore, tasked to promote the countrys tourism industry. ...

References

• "Singapore’s most famous ape celebrates 46th birthday", Khaleej Times, 18 June 2006.

External links

• Ah Meng's pictures at flickr.com