Naku, zoo’s 17-year-old female gorilla, euthanized
Naku, a 17-year-old female gorilla at the Milwaukee County Zoo, died Saturday, according to a zoo news release.
The death comes just weeks after Cassius, the zoo’s 31-year-old breeding male lowlands gorilla, died.
Late last week, zoo staff noticed that Naku appeared sluggish. They monitored her closely, and eventually decided to anesthetize her, at which point the staff discovered that Naku was septic and part of her intestines were dead.
Cassius and Naku are members of the same family group at the zoo. Cassius died April 12. The remaining members include an adult female named Shalia, and two young gorillas, Sulaiman and Zahra. Zahra was the offspring of Naku and Cassius and was born last September.
Two other male gorillas at the zoo are not part of the family group.
All the gorillas are quarantined, off exhibit and are receiving antibiotic treatment in case Naku’s and Cassius’ deaths were related.
Primate staff slept near Naku into Saturday. The zoo consulted with human specialists but eventually decided to euthanize Naku.
“It’s an extremely sad day at the Zoo as we mourn the loss of Naku,” Zoo Director Chuck Wikenhauser said in the release. “Our extremely dedicated and experienced veterinary, medical and primate keeper staff worked tirelessly together with the hope of bringing Naku through this difficult series of events.”
The zoo is transitioning 8-month-old Zahra to a formula diet, and it hopes that Shalia may act as a surrogate mother to the baby gorilla.