Ah Meng

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Ah Meng (born circa 18 June 1960) is a famous female Sumatran Orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore.

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.

With her amicable behaviour and 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.

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.

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.