A YouTube sensation has arrived in Blackpool! Bornean orangutan Jingga became famous in 2015 after a video of her went viral. Her hilarious reaction to a magic trick has been viewed more than 20 million times.
The seven-year-old female has moved from her Spanish home to Blackpool Zoo to live with resident male Ramon as part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP).
Jingga was born in Barcelona in 2009 to mother Jawi and father Karl, and is currently settling into Orangutan Outlook before making her public debut in the coming days.
Darren Webster, Zoo Director, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Jingga to Blackpool Zoo. It is always very special when a new animal joins the zoo family and this time we really are welcoming a celebrity that millions of people across the world have tuned in to see! The Bornean orangutan was classified as critically endangered in July 2016 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This means that this species now faces an “extremely high” risk of extinction in the wild. This makes breeding programmes such as the EEP absolutely vital and we are hoping that Jingga and Ramon will have young of their own.”
The pair will live in Blackpool Zoo’s £1million Orangutan Outlook facility with 33-year-old Vicky and her daughters Cherie, who is 20 and Summer, who turned 15 in May this year.
The video of Jingga’s hilarious reaction to a magic trick can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIxYCDbRGJc