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RAMAT GAN, Thursday 12 August 2010 (AFP) - An Israeli zoo welcomed its first baby orang-utan in 10 years after a 42-year-old male passed on two young arrivals from Europe to mate with a female his own age, zookeepers said on Thursday.

"We are pleased and delighted that this event took place here, since the last one was 10 years ago, and because the mother is Rachael" said Sagit Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Ramat Gan Zoo near Tel Aviv.

At 41 Rachael was thought to be too old to become pregnant and the father, Mooshon, 42, had suffered two strokes.

The new arrival -- a male -- has not yet been given a name.

The zoo had been trying for a baby orang-utan for years, and had brought in two young females from a German zoo, but Horowitz said that in the end Mooshon chose the older ape.

The two are Sumatran orang-utans, a "critically endangered" species whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 7,300, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which tracks endangered species.

The more numerous Bornean orang-utan, with an estimated population of 45,000 to 69,000, is listed as "endangered," according to the IUCN.

Both species of furry red primates are threatened by deforestation and poaching.