Saturday, September 06, 2008







Oldest Gorilla in Captivity Dies

By LINDA STEWART BALL, AP


posted: 14 HOURS 31 MINUTES AGOcomments: 9filed under: Animal News, National NewsPrintShareText SizeAAADALLAS



(Sept. 5) - The oldest gorilla in captivity, a 55-year-old female named Jenny, has died at the Dallas Zoo — her home for more than half a century, a spokesman said Friday.
Zoo officials decided to euthanize Jenny on Thursday night because of an inoperable tumor in her stomach. Jenny had stopped eating and drinking recently, and tests showed she was unlikely to recover, zoo spokesman Sean Greene said.

Tony Gutierrez, AP
Jenny the gorilla eats some birthday cake on May 8 as the Dallas Zoo celebrates her 55th birthday. The oldest gorilla in captivity, she died Thursday.

"The last couple of weeks we noticed that she hadn't been feeling all that great," Greene said. "It was a quality-of-life decision."
The International Species Information System, which maintains records on animals at 700 institutions around the world, confirmed earlier this year that Jenny was the oldest gorilla in its database.
The zoo held a birthday bash in May to celebrate Jenny's longevity, complete with a cake made of a frozen fruit treats for the guest of honor.
Jenny was said to have a sweet disposition and enjoyed being around people. She was often seen napping below a fig tree in her habitat.
"We had a tough time saying goodbye," said Todd Bowsher, curator of the zoo's mammals in the Wilds of Africa exhibit.
"It's very sad that she's passed on, but what a great life she's had," said Kristen Lukas, curator of conservation and science at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio and the gorilla species survival plan coordinator for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

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