SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Zoo officials have announced that a beloved 31-year-old female Orangutan has died after she was expecting babies and needed an emergency procedure.
According to Zoo Miami, “Bonnie” needed an emergency surgery requiring the removal of a full-term, non-viable fetus that she unfortunately would have not been able to deliver naturally.
“Zoo staff had been aware of Bonnie’s pregnancy and has been monitoring it closely for several months,” said Ron Magill, Zoo Communications Director. “She was scheduled for a full exam with an OB/GYN and ultrasound specialist this coming Monday. However, after displaying signs of elevated distress yesterday afternoon, she was immobilized and brought to the zoo hospital for emergency tests and treatment.”
During the procedure, doctors were able to successfully take out the fetus, but Bonnie wasn’t able to recover and passed away hours after.
Bonnie arrived at Zoo Miami in 2009, and she was born at the Audubon Zoo on Jan. 26, 1985.
Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling mammals in the world with males often weighing over 200 pounds and having an arm-span of close to 8 feet. They are found in Indonesia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra and are critically endangered due to poaching and deforestation for palm oil plantations.