Zoo de Granby Mumba the gorilla dies

[Chlidonias]

Mumba the gorilla, 48, dies at Granby Zoo

Mumba the gorilla, 48, dies at Granby Zoo

Mumba, the Granby Zoo's silverback gorilla, is dead at the age of 48 - about 90 in human years.

The animal was found dead in cage Tuesday by one of his handlers. Mumba apparently died in his sleep of natural causes.

Mumba was one of the oldest and best known gorillas in captivity. According to the zoo, more than 20 million visitors saw him.

Mumba was taken into captivity from a forest in Cameroon and was brought to Canada in 1961 when he was 15 months old.

Once here, he was raised by humans who bottle-fed him until the zoo built his shelter. Mumba was the oldest male of his species in captivity in North America.

He enjoyed listening to soft rock and jazz, and watching Scooby Doo cartoons on television.

He had been in poor health in recent years. In July, The Gazette reported that he was suffering from arthritis and the zoo was preparing for his death.

The average life expectancy of a gorilla is 40 years.

Mumba's remains will be preserved and put on display at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa.

Mumba leaves no descendants. Attempts to mate him with three female gorillas failed. Naturalists suggest that was because he was raised by humans and bonded with them for the first two years of his life.

 

[Chlidonias]

I just had to follow up with this press item because apparently Mumba was a razorback!
Zoo's razorback gorilla dies of old age - UPI.com

Zoo's razorback gorilla dies of old age

MONTREAL, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- One of the North America's oldest captive male African razorback gorillas died of old age in his sleep in a zoo outside Montreal, officials said.

Mumba, 48, was found dead in his cage Tuesday morning by one of his handlers at the Granby Zoo, 50 miles east of Montreal, The Gazette newspaper reported.

Zoo officials said the animal had been suffering from arthritis most of the year and cited natural causes as the cause of death.

The gorilla was around 90 in human years, zoo officials said. He arrived in Granby in 1961 at the age of 15 months after being captured in a forest in Cameroon. He was raised by zoo staff who bottle-fed him. Officials said they suspect the intimate human contact is why mating attempts with three females over the years failed.

Mumba exceeded captive gorilla life expectancy by eight years, the report said.

Handlers said the gorilla enjoyed "listening to soft rock and jazz, and watching Scooby Doo cartoons on television."

Mumba's remains will be treated by a taxidermist and displayed at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the newspaper said.

 

[Meaghan Edwards]

I'm sad to hear of his passing, but 48! That's incredible!