San Francisco Zoo officials are trying to convince a pair of siamang apes to adopt a baby ape rejected by her mother.

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The now 7-month-old baby, Sungai, was rejected by her mother shortly after its birth at the Rio Grande Zoo in New Mexico last August, the Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal reported Thursday. She was taken to the Houston Zoo, where she was also rejected by a pair of resident siamangs, and arrived in San Francisco in February.

"She's doing well," David Bocian, associate curator of primates at the San Francisco Zoo, said of Sungai. "She has been very adaptable and has risen to all the challenges we've thrown at her."

Sungai has met with the adult pair, Mindy and Storm, under close supervision from zoo officials.

"Sungai was still nervous around adults," Bocian said. "She needs more time."

Meanwhile, Sungai's birth mother, Sia, is expecting another offspring. Rio Grande Zoo officials said they hope Sia will be more interested in parenting her new baby.

"She never even acknowledged that (Sungai) was another being," said Rick Janser, the zoo's mammal curator. "She wanted to stay completely away from it."