Denver Zoo’s baby orangutan needs name, and Colorado gets to pick from three options

There is a very small, very hairy, very important baby at the Denver Zoo, and he doesn’t have a name yet. That’s where you come in.

The zoo announced this week that the public can vote on a name for the Sumatran orangutan infant born May 24 to first-time mother Hesty, a 15-year-old who was born at the Denver Zoo herself back in 2010. The three choices, selected by the animal care team: Oka, Rambutan or Jamartin. Votes cost $5 each — because apparently even baby apes have fundraising goals — with proceeds supporting the zoo’s conservation work.

The birth itself is a significant moment for the species. Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered, with fewer than 14,000 estimated to remain in the wild, all on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Every birth in a managed population matters, and the zoo called the arrival “a vital achievement” for the species’ long-term survival. Hesty and her infant made their public debut on Thursday at the zoo’s Great Apes exhibit, with the baby clinging to mom in the way that baby orangutans do — which is to say, constantly and with an iron grip that would put most adult humans to shame.

For the uninitiated: Rambutan is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia. Oka is an Indonesian name. Jamartin appears to be a nod to the baby’s father, Jameran. All three names were chosen to reflect the species’ Indonesian heritage. The zoo has not indicated when voting will close, but given that the name will reportedly be announced on the zoo’s social channels, moving quickly is advisable — this is Denver, and people have strong opinions about baby animals.

Vote at denverzoo.org. The baby orangutan and Hesty can be seen in the Great Apes building during regular zoo hours.