UNEMAT 2009/1

OLDEST GORILLA IN CAPTIVITY DIES AT 55

[1]  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.

[5]  Jenny the gorilla celebrated her 55th

birthday at the Dallas Zoo in May.

Zoo officials decided to euthanize Jenny on

Thursday night because of an inoperable

tumor in her stomach. Jenny had stopped

[10]  eating and drinking recently, and tests

showed that she was unlikely to recover,

spokesman Sean Greene said.

"The last couple of weeks, we noticed that

she hadn't been feeling all that great,"

[15]  Greene said. "It was a quality-of-life

decision."

The International Species Information

System, which maintains records on

animals at 700 institutions around the

[20]  world, confirmed this year that Jenny was

the oldest gorilla in its database.

The zoo held a birthday bash in May to

celebrate Jenny's longevity, with a cake

made of a frozen fruit treats for the guest of

[25]  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.

[30]  "We had a tough time saying goodbye,"

said Todd Bowsher, curator of the zoo's

mammals in theWilds of Africa exhibit.

"It's very sad that she's passed on, but what

a great life she's had," said Kristen Lukas,

[35]  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.

Jenny, a Western lowland gorilla, was born

[40]  in the wild and was acquired by the zoo in

1957. She gave birth in 1965 to a female

named Vicki, and officials aren't sure why

she didn't conceive again. Vicki was sent to

a Canadian zoo at age 5.

[45]  At the time of Jenny's death, she was one

of five gorillas at the Dallas Zoo.

Gorillas in the wild normally live to age 30

or 35, but they can survive years longer in a

zoo, with veterinary care and protection

[50]  from predators. Still, of the roughly 360

gorillas in North American zoos, only four

were older than 50 as of this spring.

According to the International Species

Information System, the oldest living gorilla

[55]  is now Colo, a 51-year-old female at the

Columbus Zoo who was the first gorilla born

in captivity.

Just last month, another gorilla at the Dallas

Zoo, 43-year-old Hercules, died after

[60]  undergoing a medical procedure for spinal

disease.

In 2004, Dallas police shot and killed a 13-

year-old gorilla named Jabari at the zoo

after he jumped over a wall, bit three people

[65]  and snatched up a toddler with his teeth

Fonte: http://edition.cnn.com