Tiffany the gorilla, a 49-year-old primate at the Topeka Zoo, was euthanized Sunday after her caretakers learned she had Stage 4 cancer.
The gorilla stopped eating properly after a storm that zookeepers thought spooked her, but she continued to refuse solid food. The zoo staff began to run tests and finally discovered the cancer during exploratory surgery, The Washington Post reported.
Tiffany was a popular fixture at the zoo, where she lived all her life except a few brief attempts to introduce her to other gorillas, which ended badly.
Tiffany was born at the Kansas City Zoo in 1968 but was raised with humans during her early months and never learned to interact with her own species. When she was paired with a male gorilla at the Topeka Zoo at age 1, she bullied him and they refused to mate. Later, when she was sent to the Buffalo Zoo, she was attacked by a male gorilla who broke her leg. She then returned to the Topeka Zoo, where she remained.
Tiffany enjoyed watching children, especially babies, who came to see her. She liked to look at picture books and watch movies, and she played with dolls as well.
After a CAT scan showed two tumors on her abdominal wall, doctors tried to perform surgery to save her, but didn’t wake her up from the anesthesia when they discovered the tumors had metastasized and she actually had late-stage ovarian cancer, ABC News reported.
“We are all utterly thankful for every moment we had with this sweet girl,” the zoo website said, according to The Kansas City Star. “She was nothing short of amazing and will certainly never be forgotten. Goodnight gorilla.”
Twitter fans were sad to hear about Tiffany’s passing.