Music-loving ape releases debut single for World Orangutan Day

An orangutan at an Australian zoo has released its debut single to raise awareness for World Orangutan Day.

Kluet, a 20-year Sumatran orangutan from Adelaide Zoo, composed his first song, titled "Give me a Klue", by interacting with a music-making application.

Pij Olijnyk, a primate keeper at the Adelaide Zoo and a producer for Kluet's single, said the song was comparable to some renowned modern jazz.

"There are certainly nods to a couple of classic jazz songs in there," Olijnyk told the ABC on Friday.

"I can hear a bit of (the) Pink Panther theme and I think there's a bit of 'The Way You Look Tonight' as well.

"He's brilliant, (orangutans) in general are really the geniuses of the animal world. Kluet in particular is very playful and cheeky, very inquisitive, loves to try new things."

The song is being sold on Adelaide Zoo's website where people who purchase it can pay whatever they want for it, with the money going toward supporting the Zoo's three orangutans.

"We're just creating a bit of awareness about our orangs for World Orangutan Day," Olijnyk said.

"It's an opportunity to just celebrate orangutans but also to raise a bit of awareness about the plight of wild orangs because they're in a lot of trouble.

"Sumatran orangutans like Kluet are critically endangered, there's somewhere between 4,000 to 7,000 left in the wild and we're probably losing about 1,000 a year at the moment due to habitat loss in particular."

World Orangutan Day is on Aug. 19. Endit