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Calgary Zoo gorillas mourn death of Tabitha
The Calgary Herald; CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2007

CALGARY - The Calgary Zoo has lost another of its big attractions.

Tabitha, a western lowland gorilla, died on Saturday after thrilling and inspiring zoo visitors for 23 years.

Fellow gorillas Julia, Donge, Zuri, Barika and Kakinga, the dominant male, will mourn her loss in the days to come, say zookeepers.

"Kakinga is being more protective than usual -- he's keeping everybody together in a protective way," said Laurie Herron, a zoo spokeswoman.

Veterinarians, keepers and zoo staff are also saddened by her death.

"The staff have an attachment to a lot of the animals, and Tabitha was really easy to recognize. She was quite tall and lanky," said Kevin Strange, senior manager of conservation, education and communications.

"When you spend your free time going down to watch the gorillas, yes, she's going to be missed," said Strange.

Tabitha was Kakinga's favourite female and the most confident of the females. She gave birth to two males, Mbundi and Zwalani.

As an older female, Tabitha was of incalculable value to the gorilla troop, zookeepers said. She was a teacher to the younger females, helping them to develop strong maternal skill sets.

When she was only eight months old, Tabitha was diagnosed with an abscess in her brain and had to have surgery to treat the infection. The left side of her body was initially paralyzed, and though she regained function, her left arm remained affected.

Throughout her life, she suffered seizures several times a year, and suffered another attack last week. Tabitha was making small improvements, but on Saturday morning she had another seizure. Veterinarians and keepers worked tirelessly but were unable to revive her.

"She had fluid on the brain from bleeding on the brain, which is probably the cause of death," said Strange.

© The Edmonton Journal 2007