Achi news desk-
Yusufu, a 20-year-old mandrill who lived at the Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo for a decade, has died.
The cause of death was complications caused by recovery after surgery for a severe intestinal problem.
The zoo’s animal care staff noticed a dramatic change in Yusufu’s behavior during their daily morning check one day in March, including what appeared to be significant abdominal discomfort.
A diagnostic test discovered the intestinal issue, which was acute and severe. Yusufu underwent emergency abdominal surgery where it was discovered that a large part of his small intestine was compromised and needed to be removed.
While Yusufu was stable during surgery, he died while recovering.
A necropsy revealed a number of previous incidents of inflammation in the abdomen which caused significant damage to her bowel, and also degenerative damage to her heart.
The median life expectancy for mandrills in human care, the zoo said on its Facebook post, is 18.3 years. In the wild, it’s about 20 years.
Yusufu was born at Zoo de Granby in Quebec in August 2003 and came to Calgary Zoo in 2014, with his sister Layla. With his striking colours, Yusufu stood out and was a favorite zoo resident for staff, volunteers and visitors.
Mandrills are the largest monkey species and quite social – one of the best known mandrills in pop culture is Rafiki from The Lion King.
Layla continues to reside at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo and is being monitored by staff as they begin the search for a new mandrill companion for her.
