SEATTLE — The Woodland Park Zoo announced that Vip, their 42-year-old western lowland gorilla, passed away Thursday morning.
The male gorilla had been lethargic and not eating for the past few weeks. However an examination did not reveal anything of note.
Vip, short for Very Important Primate, was the first zoo gorilla to be born in the Netherlands.
Vip lived in Boston at the Franklin Park Zoo before moving to the Woodland Park Zoo in 1996.
“Losing one of our gorillas is deeply sad for our zoo family. During his 25 years at Woodland Park Zoo, Vip was dearly loved by the zoo’s staff, volunteers, members, donors, visitors and the community. In his own right, he became a very important primate to all of us,” said Martin Ramirez, curator of mammals at Woodland Park Zoo.
“Vip was a very striking gorilla. While zoo guests would mistakenly think he was grumpy because of his very low brow ridge, he was quite the opposite. He was an excellent companion and took great interest in each of his daughters,” added Ramirez. “As an attentive dad, he led his group with patience, playfulness and kindness. This is a very difficult time for us and a great loss for the North American gorilla population. We will really miss this amazing, very important primate.”
The average life expectancy for a male lowland gorilla is 32 years old.
He is survived by his female companion, Jumoke.