Zoo keepers and zoo goers mourn the loss of Kambula, one of the oldest and most well-known Western Lowland gorillas at the Fort Worth Zoo. Photos by Bob Chochola
FORT WORTH, Texas: One of the Fort Worth Zoo's three Western lowland gorillas has died.
Thirty-two-year-old Kambula (cam-BOO-lah) was euthanized Thursday [February 26th, 2009] because his health rapidly declined in recent weeks, the zoo announced Friday.
Kambula was recently diagnosed with abdominal abscesses and heart disease. The abscesses had been removed, but Kambula's heart continued to fail, zoo officials said.
Kambula was the zoo's second oldest male gorilla and had been in Fort Worth since 1992, Zoo officials say most captive apes don't live far beyond age 30. The Fort Worth Zoo is home to a large population of aging primates, including three orangutans, two gorillas, two chimpanzees and one bonobo who are all over the age of 30.
