You are here: Home : Newsroom : Gorilla Dies At N.C. Zoo
Gorilla Succumbs To Illness
BY: Rod HackneyDec. 14, 2009 ASHEBORO--Donna,a 42-year-old female gorilla, was euthanized at the North Carolina Zoo Monday after undergoing more than two-and-a-half years of treatments for cancer.
According to Chief Veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis, Donna suffered a relapse after the reappearance of cancerous tumors in her abdomen. The gorilla underwent surgery two years ago for cancer in her uterus and ovaries. That procedure was performed by a team of specialists from the Duke University College of Medicine and the Carolina Center for Reproductive Medicine in Cary.
But the growth had reappeared and increased significantly in size in recent months, Loomis said. After a physical examination on Monday, zoo veterinarians and animal staff determined that Donna's condition was untreatable and that her quality of life would continue to deteriorate. Donna's care was coordinated by physicians and was comparable to state-of-the-art care provide to human patients, Loomis said.
Born in 1968, Donna was transferred to the North Carolina Zoo in November 1990 from the Como Zoo in St. Paul, MN. Like the other gorillas in the N.C. Zoo’s collection, she was part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Gorilla Species Survival Plan (Gorilla SSP)--a cooperative program by American zoos to improve the captive care and breeding of these highly endangered great apes.
A second female gorilla at the zoo, Katie, age 36, is currently also undergoing treatment for an abdominal tumor. Her treatments have included radiation therapy at the N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine. But Loomis said Katie’s prognosis is guarded.
Meanwhile,the zoo’s 18-year-old male gorilla, Nikosi, remains on exhibit and in good health. Two young female gorillas are scheduled to be transferred to the N.C. Zoo during the first half of 2010 from the San Diego Zoo and Oklahoma City Zoo. Those transfers were approved some time ago by the Gorilla SSP and are not related to the medical problems with Donna and Katie.