Chimpanzee Latest Animal to Die at Indonesia`s Surabaya Zoo

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A female chimpanzee was found dead in its cage at Surabaya Zoo (KBS) on Friday, August 14.

Sasha, the name of the 17-year-old chimp, was observed unhealthy since August 8 which was the first day of her menstrual cycle, according to the zoo’s Communication Staff Ryan Adi Djauhari.

“She looked weak and rejected her food. Therefore we installed infusion tube from the morning and treated her intensively,” said Ryan as quoted by Antaranews.

According to Ryan, the chimp was not breathing when the vet Rahmat Suharta entered the cage to examine her. It is believed that the time of death is immediately before the vet’s visit.

Sasha arrived in KBS on July 1996 as a donation from Singapore Zoo. She arrived along with male chimp named Jono that died in May 2014. Jono died from pneumonia. It was suspected that the disease has infected Sasha and she was treated. Sasha’s health was worse again in 2014 when she was knocked by nervous system problem. She could not move half of her body because of the illness.

The zoo had also tried to match Sasha with other male chimp, that also arrived from Singapore Zoo but the attempt was not succeed.

The zoo treated Sasha with herbal medication starting from February 2015 and she got better. Blood test taken in August have shown that Sasha has recovered before she weakened again.

The autopsy indicates chronic lung inflammation and kidney inflammation.

ANTARA