May 21--Brookfield Zoo's curious, intelligent and beloved orangutan Maggie has been euthanized after suffering a gradual decline in health, officials said Saturday.
Over the past several weeks, Maggie, who at nearly 55 is the second oldest confirmed female Bornean orangutan in the world, showed a graduate decline in her health and zoo staffers made the "difficult decision'' to humanely euthanize her on Friday, according to zoo spokeswoman Sondra Katzen.
Maggie was afflicted with many of the same ailments that affect the elderly, including arthritis, heart disease, hypothyroidism, and round cell sarcoma, according to Katzen, who said the decision was made after degenerative changes associated with her advanced age began to severely impact her quality of life.
Staffers who cared for her knew Maggie as curious, intelligent, and playful, Katzen said. She was born at San Diego Zoo in 1961, and while there, she gave birth to four offspring. In 1995, Maggie arrived at Brookfield Zoo and served a very important role as a surrogate mother to two infants. The most recent is Kecil, who is now 2 1/2 years old, Katzen said.
Throughout her life at Brookfield Zoo, Maggie received regular preventative care examinations by the zoo's veterinary staff. In recent years, that level of care expanded to routinely include diagnostic procedures such as cardiac ultrasound and CT scans performed at the zoo's state-of-the-art animal hospital.
"Losing Maggie was a huge loss to Brookfield Zoo, and especially to the staff who cared for her, some of them for more than 20 years," said Craig Demitros, associate curator for primates for the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages the zoo.
"She was a wonderful surrogate mother to Kecil and was an extremely patient and personable orangutan. She will truly be missed," Demitros said.
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