Orangutan fathers do not pay much of a role in upbringing their offsprings. On the other hand, there is a close bond between the orangutan mother and the child as she single-handedly looks after it. As a fact, mother orangutans are known to invest in raising their offspring more than any other animal.
Recently, the story of a 2-year-old orangutan was shared on the Internet. Cerah the baby orangutan was left by herself when her mother died unexpectedly at the Denver Zoo. The father orangutan did surprise the zoo staff when he stepped up for a job which was unusual for him.
“Cerah couldn’t have asked for a better dad. Berani is so attentive and protective of her, seeing all her needs,” the zookeepers said in a Facebook post shared two days ago.
Scroll down to see the heartwarming pictures of the father-daughter duo.
After 2-year-old Cerah became motherless, her dad Berani stepped up to take care of her, which is not typical of male orangutans
The Denver Zoo keepers announced the heartwarming news on Facebook two days ago
We were curious to know more about orangutan dad Berani and his little girl Cerah, so Hiptoro reached out to Carlie McGuire, the Public Relations Coordinator at the Denver Zoo. Carlie told us that “in the wild, male orangutans are not known to be involved in the raising of offspring at all.”
But when it comes to orangutan dad Berani, he “has always been an exception to the typical role of a male orangutan.” “Well before Nias’ (the mother’s) death, Berani was known for treating Hesty, Nias’ first daughter, like his own offspring. Hesty is not Berani’s biological daughter, but he always treated her as such. So it’s no surprise to us now that he’s stepped in to take care of Cerah.”
And here are the pictures of loving Berani and his precious little Cerah who have grown inseparable
Today, Berani is the source of comfort for Cerah. Carlie said that “the whole troop is doing well, and 11-year-old Hesty, who is only a few years away from being able to start having her own children, is doing a good job playing with Cerah throughout the day.” 
When we asked Carlie about whether it’s possible for a dad orangutan to replace a mom orangutan, he replied, it’s certainly not. “Nias was the true leader of that family group, and while Berani has certainly shown some maternal instincts with Cerah recently, he cannot replace her.”
At this point, Cerah is old enough that she’s nearly is becoming independent, “so there will not be a need to bring in a new female to be a ‘surrogate’ to her,” Carlie explained.
The 32-year-old Sumatran orangutan mother named Nias died in the Denver Zoo on 17th December. She was 15-years-old when she had been brought to the zoo in 2005. The zoo authorities are still not sure about the cause of her health and are still waiting for the results. “She spent the last 15 years delighting guests and serving as an ambassador for her critically endangered species,” the zoo commented.
It seems like this beautiful sight has melted the hearts of many
