1. Ah Meng was a female Sumatran orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore.
17 Facts About Ah Meng
1. 2.
Ah Meng was originally from Indonesia and was kept illegally in Singapore as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971.
3.
Ah Meng was then eleven years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoo.
4.
Ah Meng was the head of her small clan, which lives in a large enclosure with about twenty other orangutans.
5.
Ah Meng had five children, twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
6.
Ah Meng belonged to the Sumatran orangutan species, a rarer breed of orangutan now critically endangered due to illegal logging and poaching.
7.
Ah Meng was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971.
8.
Ah Meng was then eleven years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoo.
9.
Ah Meng has been featured in over 30 travel films and more than 300 articles.
10.
Some foreign dignitaries and celebrities that visited Ah Meng included Prince Philip, Michael Jackson and Steve Irwin.
11.
In March 1982, during the shooting of a promotional video at MacRitchie Reservoir, Ah Meng climbed a tree and stayed there for two nights.
12.
Ah Meng was the first non-human recipient of the award.
13.
Ah Meng received a certificate and a stack of bananas.
14.
In March 1992, Ah Meng attacked a French female research student who was studying orangutan behaviour and spent much time with Ah Meng's long-time keeper, Alagappasamy Chellaiyahy.
15.
Ah Meng was specially featured in the Singapore Guide book of 1988, The Singapore Treasury by Andreas and Carola Augustin.
16.
Ah Meng was 47 years old, and was survived by two sons, Hsing Hsing and Satria, and three daughters, Medan, Hong Bao, and Sayang, 12 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
17.
On 10 February 2008, a memorial service for Ah Meng was held before a crowd of 4000 visitors at the Singapore Zoo.