Mahal, the orangutan. | Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Mahal, the orangutan. | Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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New Home For Hard Luck Baby Orangutan?

By Jay Sorgi

Click here to listen to Newsradio 620 WTMJ's Jay Sorgi report on an orangutan from Colorado who might discover a new family in the Milwaukee County Zoo.

An orangutan with a hard-luck story needs a home, and may find it in Milwaukee.

Mahal's a not-so-little primate who's nine months old.

He came to the Brew City so that the Milwaukee County Zoo's can see if M.J., one of it's orangutans, would adopt him.

Mahal was born in Colorado Springs, his mother Hadiah rejected him, and caregivers told the Journal Sentinel that his dad thought Mahal was a threat.

He's also got what could be called close to a club foot and had to wear braces for several months.

Keepers found a surrogate mom in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado, but she died in her sleep.

Some experts believe Mahal's species could go extinct in the wild within a decade, and even in North American zoos, there's now only six possible surrogates for Mahal.

M.J.'s one of them.

Keepers will see how well Mahal and M.J. interact.

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