Melbourne Zoo however, has refuted claims it mistreats its Orang-utans by leaving them exposed to winter conditions.

The zoo's conservation director Rachel Lowry said allegations made by Malaysian Palm Oil Council chief executive Dr Yusof Basiron that the endangered apes were suffering were ridiculous.

"He was saying the animal was cold. Our exhibit actually has heated elements integrated throughout," Ms Lowry, a board member of the International Zoo Educators Board, said.

"They also have access to beds that are heated. They're like bedrooms really that are maintained at 20C at all times. On a cold day the orang-utans have a choice of whether they want to stay in our outside."

"I suspect his motivations for these false allegations is to divert attention from this very real and serious issue taking place in the wild at the moment and bring attention to an organisation that has been responsible for raising awareness for this problem facing orang-utans,'' she said.

Melbourne Zoo is displaying anti-palm oil signs at the centre as part of its 'Don't Palm us Off' campaign.

The campaign aims to change Australia's labelling legislation so that manufacturers of consumer products be required to list palm oil when it is an ingredient in their product. It can now be legally listed as vegetable oil.

But Bernama reported Dr Yusof said having anti-palm oil signs at the zoo was a display of bad faith and calculated to misrepresent the issue to win public sympathy.

The claims come as Melbourne Zoo celebrates the eighth birthday of orang-utan Menyaru, who was born at the zoo at part of an international endangered species breeding program.

In the view of Deforestation Watch, it is certainly a stretch for Ms Lowry to say that beds and bedrooms provided for the rangutans represent the orangutans' natural environment. Either Ms Lowry is ignorant or she is a cynically exploiting the issue for reasons best known to her! THE END