Bantu The Gorilla Dies In Captivity In Mexico City’s Chapultepec Zoo
Bantu the gorilla has lost his life after being sedated in order to move him from the Mexico City zoo to another Mexican zoo for mating purposes. Bantu was due to mate with two female gorillas and prior to leaving the Mexico City zoo, veterinarians sedated the 24-year-old western lowland gorilla.
However, after a preliminary autopsy, the environment department in the city has said in a statement that Bantu the gorilla had died of cardio respiratory arrest late on Wednesday and all efforts to reanimate him had failed.
We are sorry to learn about the death of gorilla #Bantu. Being transported from zoo to zoo for breeding purposes… https://t.co/XONhHazhrq
— WAR-International. (@WildlifeAtRisk) July 8, 2016
According to an AFP report, the western lowland gorilla – who would have celebrated his 25th birthday in September this year – weighed in at 224-kilo (493-pound) and was one of the star attractions at Mexico City’s Chapultepec zoo. Reportedly, staff working at the zoo are very upset at his passing.
The statement by the zoo read, “This incident has caused great consternation among zoo personnel who cared for him for nearly 25 years,” adding that international veterinary protocols had been followed throughout.
Bantu, #gorilla at Mexico #zoo, dies of heart attack after being sedated for move to another zoo https://t.co/3huLk0iHaI #primates #apes
— Barbara J King (@bjkingape) July 8, 2016
Veterinarians were hoping to produce more of the endangered species via Bantu. The gorilla was set to travel to a zoo in the western city of Guadalajara, where veterinarians wished to introduce him to two females in the hope they would reproduce.
Reportedly, around 20 veterinarians and other experts from both zoos were involved in the process of transporting the gorilla and tests are now underway to confirm the exact cause of death.
In related news on the Inquisitr:
- Jane Goodall Finally Unveils Real Feelings About Cincinnati Zoo’s Decision To Shoot Harambe The Gorilla
- Cincinnati Zoo: No Charges For Mother Of Boy Who Fell Into Gorilla Enclosure
While many have suggested that the sedation may be to blame for his death, zoo director Juan Arturo Rivera Rebolledo rejected all speculation.
He told the local media in Mexico, “Bantu weighed 224 kilos and we considered a dose of anesthesia for 200 kilos. The dose was much smaller than what it should have been,” adding that the death was due to “a medical complication.”
The latest death of an endangered silverback gorilla has caused much concern, as populations have plummeted in the world due to relentless habitat destruction. Reportedly, there are less than 175,000 western lowland gorillas remaining in the wild.
According to a report by the Mirror Online, many people have taken to social media to express sadness over Bantu the gorilla’s death, quoting one Instagram user as saying, “Bantu, the beautiful 25 year old Gorilla (They live up to 40 years) from the zoo of Chapultepec in Mexico City, died from a Heart attack undertake effects of the anesthesia when they were trying to move him to a zoo in the city of Guadalajara.”
“No words for this tragic loss…”
Others have taken to social media to tell people to stop visiting “animal jails.”
At least one news service is theorizing the silverback gorilla had committed suicide, but with no relevant link available.
#Bantu, a beloved gorilla of Mexico City’s zoo was found dead. Top experts declared suicide as cause of death pic.twitter.com/D8iLR4Kj2i
— Mexico News Service (@mex_news_servic) July 7, 2016
The latest death comes in the wake of the controversy back in May, after Harambe the gorilla was fatally shot in the Cincinnati, Ohio zoo when a child fell into the gorilla enclosure.
[Photo via Flickr by Heather Paul, cropped and resized/CC BY-ND 2.0]
