Amazing animals: An orangutan at Dublin Zoo saves a duckling from drowning - VIDEO

Bornean orangutan carefully scoops a drowning moorehen from a pond

By: CATHY HAYES | Published Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 10:25 AM | Updated Wednesday, June 15, 2011, 10:37 AM

An amazing YouTube clip, shot by a member of the public, shows a male Bornean orangutan, called Jorong, rescuing a drowning moorehen chick from a pond at Dublin Zoo. The YouTube clip is fast becoming an Internet sensation.

The clip shows the orangutan craning over the rocks to look at the chick. He then offers the chick some food before he seems to realize the chick is in trouble. He then scoops the chick up to safety on the bank and seems to blow on the chick and examine him.

During the four-minute clip the crowd which gathered can be heard gasping in amazement at what they observed. The clip has already been viewed by over 11,000 people.

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A spokeswoman for Dublin Zoo told the Irish Times “He had a lovely nature, was always a little inquisitive and very gentle which you can tell from the clip…During his time in Dublin he fathered a female orangutan named Mujur, who still lives in Dublin Zoo with the zoo’s group of Bornean orangutans.”

The authorities at Dublin Zoo confirmed that the footage was recorded at the Phoenix Park location. The animal care team confirmed that Jorong lived in Dublin Zoo for 12 years until he moved to Dudley Zoo in 2008 as part of an international breeding program. He was born at Chester Zoo, in Britain in 1995 and moved to Dublin in 1996.