The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Brookfield Zoo Gorilla Dies

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 27, 2009 9:45PM

2009_03_27_gorilla.jpg
Photo from Brookfield Zoo, via the Sun-Times
It's a sad end of the week for area zoos. First came yesterday's news about the death of a chimp and the sickness of six others at the Lincoln Park Zoo and today comes news that the Brookfield Zoo's oldest gorilla was euthanized yesterday. Staff made the decision after discovering that Alpha, one of the oldest female gorillas in captivity at the time of her death (48 years old), had end-stage kidney failure. Kim Smith, vice president for animal care at Brookfield, said, "This is a very sad event for us. We are bolstered by the fact that she had so many surviving offspring. We know that Alpha lives on in future generations." Smith also described Alpha as the leader of the group: "She was the one that set the rules, kept everyone in line, made sure everyone was OK." Alpha gave birth seven offspring and a grandchild and great-grandchild are still at Brookfield. [Sun-Times]