Gorilla, Elaine Dies, Less Then 1 Week After Chimpanzee Dies?

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — For the second time in less than a week, an Ohio zoo has lost one of its senior citizen primates.

The Toledo Zoo says Elaine, a 42-year-old female gorilla, died Tuesday, a few days after her keepers noticed a loss of appetite followed by other symptoms including an intermittent dry cough, trembling and labored breathing.

The zoo said in a release Wednesday that a necropsy showed abnormalities in the animal's adrenal glands, kidneys and lungs.

It was just last weekend that the zoo reported the death of 49-year-old Fifi, one of the oldest female chimpanzees housed at a North American zoo.

Toledo Zoo officials point out that at 42, Elaine had lived far beyond the 31-year life expectancy for a gorilla in a zoo setting.

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