The oldest and the first known gorilla to be born in captivity, a female named Colo, has died at the age of 60 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, officials said on Tuesday.
Colo, a Western lowland gorilla, passed away in her sleep overnight and on Tuesday morning she was found dead in her enclosure by zoo staff. She was born at the same zoo on Dec. 22, 1956.
She was the mother of three children, 16 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and three great-great-offspring. Her oldest, Emmy, was the first second-generation gorilla born in a zoo and her grandchild, Cora, was the first third-generation gorilla born in captivity.
Recently, the gorilla had a malignant tumour removed from under her arm, and was thought to be recovering well. However, it is not known at this stage whether the cancer contributed to her death. Patty Peters, a zoo spokeswoman, said she was the oldest gorilla on record and exceeded her normal life expectancy by more than two decades.
Peters said Colo did not show any sign of being unwell when some 13,000 visited the zoo on Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. "There were lines of people. She interacted with guests all day," Peters told Reuters.
Tom Stalf, zoo president, said: "Colo touched the hearts of generations of people who came to see her and those that cared for her over her long lifetime.
"She was an ambassador for gorillas and inspired people to learn more about the critically endangered species and motivated them to protect gorillas in their native habitat," Stalf added.
The zoo said that Colo will be cremated and her ashes will be buried at an undisclosed location at the Columbus zoo. The authorities said the results of the necropsy, which are expected in approximately four weeks, will further explain the cause of Colo's death.