A newborn baby boy with his umbilical cord still attached was found alive in a shallow stream in Indonesia.

The abandoned child was discovered inside a white plastic bag that was dumped next to a cassava garden in Central Maluku Regency, Maluku province on Wednesday, August 3.

Resident Agusthinus Soumeru was weeding the plants in the garden when he reportedly heard bird-like cries coming from nearby. He traced the sound, and came upon the white bag which was still covered in fresh blood.

Agusthinus then rushed to call his son and wife Aurora to help him retrieve the container. When they opened it, they were shocked to see the male newborn mewling inside.

They took the foundling home to clean him up, with Aurora, a village midwife, later cutting off its umbilical cord. The 1.7-kg baby was then taken to a hospital for treatment.

Inspector Moyo Utomo, head of the Public Relations Section of the Ambon Police, said: 'The police will conduct an investigation to find out who dumped the baby.

'Based on negotiations with community leaders, the witness who found the baby is willing to adopt it.'

The baby is currently being cared for by nurses in the local hospital while police investigate. The infant will be offered to the villagers for adoption if the parents cannot be traced, or if they are found and prosecuted for abandoning the baby.