This 2012 photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society shows Ramar, a western lowland gorilla living at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Ill. Ramar was euthanized on Thursday, April 12, 2018 after a series of chronic, age-related health problems. Ramar was brought to the U.S. in 1969 after he was orphaned in the wild and raised by a human family until he was about 6 years old. Ramar, was the sixth-oldest western lowland gorilla in a North American accredited zoo population, the oldest animal at Brookfield Zoo, and sired three offspring. (Jim Schulz/Chicago Zoological Society via AP)
The Associated Press
BROOKFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A 50-year-old gorilla that was one of the oldest gorillas in a North American zoo has died.
The Chicago Zoological Society says Ramar, a western lowland gorilla living at the Brookfield Zoo, was euthanized on Thursday after a series of chronic, age-related health problems.
Ramar was brought to the U.S. in 1969 after he was orphaned in the wild and raised by a human family until he was about 6 years old. He spent time in zoos in Philadelphia, Miami and North Carolina before arriving at Brookfield Zoo in 1998.
Zoo officials say Ramar was the sixth-oldest western lowland gorilla in a North American accredited zoo population. The median life expectancy for the animals is 32.
Ramar, who was the oldest animal at Brookfield Zoo, sired three offspring.
This 2012 photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society shows Ramar, a western lowland gorilla living at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Ill. Ramar was euthanized on Thursday, April 12, 2018 after a series of chronic, age-related health problems. Ramar was brought to the U.S. in 1969 after he was orphaned in the wild and raised by a human family until he was about 6 years old. Ramar, was the sixth-oldest western lowland gorilla in a North American accredited zoo population, the oldest animal at Brookfield Zoo, and sired three offspring. (Jim Schulz/Chicago Zoological Society via AP)
The Associated Press