A baby orangutan, rejected by her birth mother, has been adopted by a surrogate orangutan mother.

Officials with the Houston Zoo said when the baby orangutan, Aurora, was born back in March, her birth mother took care of her for only 12 hours. After that, officials said she abandoned her and refused repeated attempts by zoo personnel to return the baby to her.

That's when, officials said, 50 volunteers teamed up with the Houston Zoo's primate care team and became Aurora's new parents.

Zoo officials said the volunteers spent nine months taking care of her. During that time, officials said Aurora clung to her caregivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week until she was ready to move around on her own.

In late December, officials said they began to introduce Aurora to her future surrogate mother, Cheyenne.

Lynn Killam, assistant curator of primates with the zoo, said on one occasion, Aurora built up enough nerve to pass through a small door that separated the pair. She said Cheyenne then picked Aurora up and carried her across the room.

It seemed they hit it off because Killam said for the next seven hours, Cheyenne carried Aurora around, even allowing Aurora to ride on her head.

On Friday, the Houston Zoo made it official and announced Cheyenne was Aurora's new surrogate mom.

Cheyenne and Aurora may be seen daily at the zoo's Wortham World of Primates orangutan habitat.