Tuti in playful mood as zoo keepers warn the days of Orangutan could be numbered

LONDON, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The playful antics of five-year-old Sumatran orangutan, Tuti, have been captured at Chester Zoo in northern England.

Tuti playfully teased her aunt at the zoo, unaware that these charismatic apes are the first great apes to be pushed towards extinction.

Just 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain on the planet, says Chester Zoo officials. Zoo conservationists are working to protect wild orangutans in South East Asia.

A spokesman at the zoo said: "The footage we captured showed the attention-seeking ape, named Tuti, using multiple sticks to wind up her aunt, new mom Emma, as she looks to play with her new baby cousin."

Chester Zoo is currently the only zoo in mainland Britain that cares for Sumatran orangutans, which can be found in its South East Asian Islands habitat.

The zoo spokesman added: "Sumatran orangutans are one of the world's most endangered great apes and are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with recent estimates suggesting just 14,000 remain in the wild.

"It is among the many species being pushed to the brink of extinction in South East Asia by hunting, forest clearance and the planting of oil palm plantations, which are destroying vast areas of rainforest.

The zoo is working with its neighboring businesses and restaurants to turn Chester into the UK's first Sustainable Palm Oil City. Enditem