LAHORE: Friday turned out to be a sad day at the Lahore Zoo as a female chimpanzee died due to ‘multiple ailments’ early in the morning.

Pinky, 13, was the fourth member of a chimpanzee family who died at the Lahore Zoo in the last nine years. She has left behind her sister, Honey, the last member of the family.

Given the fact that this particular chimpanzee family kept in captive breeding had a history of ailments like pneumonia and hepatitis, perhaps more vigorous effort could have saved one of the major attractions for children.

Also read: Romeo dies at Karachi zoo

Pinky was born on Aug 8, 2001 at the zoo and first became a victim of Upper Respiratory Tract infection back in 2005.

According to veterinarian Samuel Shahzad, the common complaint Pinky had since her birth was flu and fever. Last year too, in January she suffered from the recurring infection.

Last week, she started showing signs of acute diarrhoea and gastric problem. Samuel Shahzad and Babar Saleem in consultation with two vets from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Dr Asim Khalid and Dr Zaiullah treated her but she was immobilised by Oct 25.

The vets administered injections and further diagnosed stomtatis (inflammation of oral cavities).

“She was treated but could not survive,” said a veterinarian.

Zoo officials told Dawn that Pinky’s parents Romeo and Juliet were purchased in 1994. Tinku, their first male chimp, was born in 2000 but he died of pneumonia in 2005.

He was the first member of the family to depart. Romeo also died of the same dreaded disease in 2008 while Juliet succumbed to hepatitis in 2012. Officials said Honey was in good health.

A wildlife official told Dawn that chimpanzees needed extra care and the life span of a chimpanzee was 50 years. “It is sad that four chimpanzees in captive breeding at the Lahore Zoo have died below 20 years,” he said.

Also Read: Chimpanzee dies in Safari Park

Director General Wildlife Nayyer Iqbal told this reporter that an inquiry had been launched to ascertain the cause of Pinky’s death and the report would be shared with the media. The postmortem report was expected next week, he added.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014