Louisville
Zoo’s 45-year-old female gorilla passes away
The Louisville Zoo family is mourning the loss of
Tunuka, a 45-year-old female gorilla.
Tunuka passed away last night (Feb. 2) from
peritonitis, an inflammation of the thin membrane that lines the abdominal
wall.
When Gorilla Forest staff found Tunuka this
morning, they said she looked as if she was sleeping.
“She looked very peaceful,” said Gorilla Forest
keeper Cynthia Cole. “It was the way she always looked when she was asleep.”
Tunuka’s gorilla group consisted of 19-year-old
females Mia Moja and Paki and 49-year-old silverback male Timmy, of whom
Tunuka was very fond. Staff will keep close watch over them to see how they
deal with Tunuka’s death.
“At least Timmy, Mia Moja and Paki were all there
when Tunuka passed away, and to me, that is important for the group,” said
Gorilla Forest Supervisor Roby Elsner.
Zoo veterinary staff—assisted by Dr. Barbara
Weakley-Jones, a leading local pathologist from the State Medical Examiner’s
office—performed the necropsy. Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Roy Burns said the
peritonitis came from a perforation in her colon which caused an abscess
that eroded and caused the infection that led to her death.
At 45, Tunuka was the third oldest gorilla at the
Louisville Zoo and one of four considered to be geriatric. She was born in
the wild in 1963. She lived at the Bronx Zoo before arriving at Louisville
Zoo in 2004.
“She was a tough, cranky female when she arrived
here in 2004,” Elsner said, “But she really mellowed over the past four
years at Louisville Zoo. She will definitely be missed.”
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The Louisville Zoo, a non-profit organization and
state zoo of Kentucky, is dedicated to bettering the bond between people and
our planet by providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for
visitors, and leadership in scientific research and conservation education.
The Zoo is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and by
the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). For more information, visit
www.louisvillezoo.org.
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