The News
Friday 29 of March 2024

Endangered Gorilla Dies at Chapultepec Zoo


Bantú the gorilla at his 24th birthday party, September 18, 2015,photo: Cuartoscuro/Sedema
Bantú the gorilla at his 24th birthday party, September 18, 2015,photo: Cuartoscuro/Sedema
Bantu the gorilla died of an apparent heart attack after being sedated for transport

MEXICO CITY — Zoo officials in Mexico City say an endangered western lowland gorilla has died as he was being prepared for transfer to another zoo.

The capital’s zoo and wildlife office said Thursday that the 24-year-old gorilla known as Bantú appeared to have suffered a heart attack after being sedated Wednesday night. Doctors spent 30 minutes trying to revive him.

Bantú was headed to the Guadalajara Zoo in western Mexico with the hope of mating with two females there.

Officials say the precise cause of death will be established following additional examinations. Bantú had spent his life at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.

The death comes after an international uproar over the gorilla Harambe was euthanized at the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28, after a young boy fell into its enclosure.