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[gertrudecloset]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The oldest male chimpanzee living in an accredited North American zoo died Saturday at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. He was 63.

The chimpanzee, named Cobby, had been a hand-reared performing chimpanzee before he was brought to the San Francisco zoo in the 1960s. Although the zoo said in a news release that the chimpanzee's cause of death had not been determined, the animal had recently been ill and zoo officials believe old age was a factor.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists chimpanzees as endangered, and they are considered among the most at-risk primates in Africa due to hunting, habitat loss and disease.

The average life expectancy of the 100,000 to 200,000 chimpanzees living in the wild is 33 years, while it is between 50 and 60 years under human care, the zoo said.

https://www.aol.com/news/oldest-male-chimpanzee-us-dies-201441628-155458291.html

[michmi]

RIP Cobby.

[Mz iMac]

Michael Jackson's chimp, Bubbles is 38 yrs old.

[gertrudecloset]

@Mz iMacwhere is Bubbles?

[Mz iMac]

@gertrudecloset  Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida

[golding76]

So sorry to hear as chimpanzees are among my favorite animals.  In fact, it probably is my favorite.  While I think horses and rabbits are the most beautiful, there is something about the chimpanzee that grabs at my heart.

I had the pleasure of playing with a young chimp on my lap for an extended period of time when I attended a circus performance on the Greek island of Crete in the 1970s.  The owner and the chimp were passing by my husband, me and my nephew and his wife where we had front-row seats in the stands.

The owner saw how I responded with great delight to the chimp and asked if I would like to hold it.  Of course I jumped at the chance.  (This was decades before chimps were reported to tear into people's faces, etc.  I was a daring young thing, too.  Also, obviously thoughts of liability were not in the air at this time and in this place in the 1970s.)

A circus photographer took a photo of the moment.  In it, I am grinning from ear to ear as I hold my chimp; my husband looks like he is thinking what an unusual woman he married; and my nephew and his wife are wisely leaning away from me and the chimp. 

RIP, Cobby.

[gertrudecloset]

@golding76what a lovely story.  Thanks for sharing it.

[chessylady]

The Sacramento zoo just lost a chimp named Joey on May 30. He was 57 years old.

[gertrudecloset]

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@chessylady wrote:

The Sacramento zoo just lost a chimp named Joey on May 30. He was 57 years old.

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@chessyladyAwwww.  that's so sad.  If he weren't in the zoo, he probably would not have made it to that age.