Viva Las Espuelas
09-09-2008, 12:42 AM
Another Dallas Zoo animal dies
09:51 PM CDT on Monday, September 8, 2008
From Staff Reports
The Dallas Zoo lost another one of its own over the weekend.
Ramses, a baboon-like mandrill, died of natural causes at 18.
Ramses, an 18-year-old male mandrill, died of natural causes on Sunday. Mandrills are a type of monkey closely related to baboons.
His death came three days after the death of 55-year-old Jenny, the world's oldest gorilla in captivity. A month ago, Hercules, a 43-year-old silverback gorilla, died of cardiac arrest.
Susan Eckert, a zoo spokeswoman, said the deaths are not related.
"We just have a collection of animals that are living extraordinarily long lives," Ms. Eckert said. "There isn't anything that's tying any of them together."
Ramses lived his entire life at the Dallas Zoo. The average lifespan for a mandrill is 20 to 30 years, Ms. Eckert said.
His exact cause of death has not been determined, but a necropsy showed abnormalities of the heart and pancreas, she said.
The zoo still has two female mandrills.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/090908dnmetbaboon.14d760b.html
09:51 PM CDT on Monday, September 8, 2008
From Staff Reports
The Dallas Zoo lost another one of its own over the weekend.
Ramses, a baboon-like mandrill, died of natural causes at 18.
Ramses, an 18-year-old male mandrill, died of natural causes on Sunday. Mandrills are a type of monkey closely related to baboons.
His death came three days after the death of 55-year-old Jenny, the world's oldest gorilla in captivity. A month ago, Hercules, a 43-year-old silverback gorilla, died of cardiac arrest.
Susan Eckert, a zoo spokeswoman, said the deaths are not related.
"We just have a collection of animals that are living extraordinarily long lives," Ms. Eckert said. "There isn't anything that's tying any of them together."
Ramses lived his entire life at the Dallas Zoo. The average lifespan for a mandrill is 20 to 30 years, Ms. Eckert said.
His exact cause of death has not been determined, but a necropsy showed abnormalities of the heart and pancreas, she said.
The zoo still has two female mandrills.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/090908dnmetbaboon.14d760b.html