Orangutan named after children’s mascot

A critically endangered orangutan born at Blackpool Zoo has been named after a mascot for an organisation which helps youngsters with a continual medical situation.

The Bornean orangutan which arrived on 28 April has been named Rufus.

It adopted a go to to the zoo by sufferers from Calea Homecare which helps youngsters who’ve had intestinal failure, together with its mascot, Rufus the orangutan.

Hannah Cutler, from the organisation, mentioned having such a particular child named after their mascot was a “true honour”.

Calea Homecare assist youngsters who want house parenteral diet (HPN), after intestinal failure, because the bowel isn’t able to absorbing sufficient meals.

Rufus was created to assist the method of empowering kids to know their very own situation.

Patient literature, movies, tales and video games have been created round Rufus and his adventures, together with a duplicate cuddly toy.

Darren Webster, director at Blackpool Zoo, mentioned it was “thrilled” to call Rufus in honour of Calea’s mascot.

“It was nice to see Calea having fun with one in every of their affected person days on the zoo and after seeing Calea’s Rufus with the kids, our group thought it could be a becoming tribute to him,” he mentioned.

Hannah Cutler, from Calea Homecare, mentioned: “We loved an unbelievable affected person day at Blackpool Zoo and the group actually went above and past to make sure everybody had a good time.”

She mentioned they have been “over the moon” when the zoo mentioned it could be naming the infant orangutan after their mascot.

“He’s been participating with the sufferers and their households for a few years, so having such a particular child named after him is a real honour,” she added.

Blackpool’s Bornean orangutans are a part of the European Endangered Species Programme for the species which was categorized as critically endangered in 2016 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature that means that it now faces an “extraordinarily excessive” threat of extinction within the wild.

Rufus is the second Bornean child orangutan to reach on the zoo after greater than 20 years.

Last yr, the zoo celebrated its first orangutan child in twenty years.