Joburg Zoo mourns the death of Dumai the orangutan
PARKVIEW – Dumai, the last orangutan at the Johannesburg Zoo passed away on Wednesday 29 July.
According to a report on EWN.com, Dumai, who was 26-years-old, suffered from heart failure after going under general anaesthetic for a medical exam.
The popular orangutan was the Zoo’s last remaining primate of the species. Born in 1989 at Leipzig Zoo in Germany, Dumai was brought to the Johannesburg Zoo in 1998.
Doctor Kreshen Pillay stated that Dumai had an underlying heart problem and would likely have suffered if they had not tried to examine him further.
He went on to say that the incident was very unfortunate. “It was very heartbreaking for all of us. A lot of people were really attached to him and we tried our best. The problem was that we couldn’t leave him.”
Goodbye dear #Duma you looked happy whenever I saw you @joburgzoo @JoburgParksZoo https://t.co/e2fr9XBs6P pic.twitter.com/eSn7TPHQI4
— Garreth van Niekerk (@garrethdavid) July 30, 2015
