TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Topeka Zoo and Conservation Center has announced the death of a Bornean orangutan there following a short illness.
Lena, a 38-year-old female, died Monday after becoming ill April 8, the zoo said in a statement Tuesday. Her condition failed to improve, and zoo staff anesthetized her to conduct a full medical workup. Lena’s heart stopped while she was under anesthesia, and staff were unable to resuscitate her, officials said.
A necropsy failed to determine a cause of death, but did show she had an abnormal left kidney.
Lena was born at the Buffalo Zoo on April 2, 1982, and came to Topeka from the Columbus Zoo in 2005.
Orangutans generally live 35-40 years in the wild, and often into their late 50s in captivity, according to the Orangutan Conservancy.
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