R.I.P Ah Meng

I'm quite sure all of you know who she is...She is the most popular Orang Utan in our Singapore Zoo...She passed away on 8 Feb 2008 of old age...she is 48 which is equivalent to our human age of 95 years...We all will definitely remember her for a long long time...although we dont know her in "person"...but ask any singaporean who is Ah Meng...they'll tell you...


Life Of Ah Meng:

She was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971. She was then eleven years old and was given a home at the Singapore Zoo.

Ah Meng was the head of her small clan, which lives in a large enclosure with about twenty other orangutans. She had five children and became a grandmother in 1990.

Due to her early years being raised as a domestic pet, Ah Meng was more approachable by humans as compared to other primates in her clan. Due to her interactive nature, she was the first to host the Zoo's 'Breakfast With An Orang Utan' programme. By allowing visitors to interact closely with Ah Meng and other orangutans, the Singapore Zoo aims to raise public awareness of the importance of preserving the orangutan's natural habitat as well as other environmental issues.


In August 1978, a visitor to the Zoo threw a sharp metal object at her, causing a gash on her cheek.

In March 1982, during the shooting of a promotional video at MacRitchie Reservoir, Ah Meng climbed a tree and stayed there for three nights. On her way down, she fell seven storeys and broke her right arm.

In March 1992, Ah Meng was jealous that her long-time keeper, Alagappasamy Chellaiyah, paid attention to a research student studying orangutan behaviour. Ah Meng attacked the French female student.(Talking about female being the sensitive one...)


Ah Meng...We Will Miss You...May You Rest In Peace...