3 monkeys die at Lincoln Park Zoo
Zoo president offers to resign
Tribune staff reports
Published May 12, 2005, 5:00 PM CDT
The president of Lincoln Park Zoo offered to quit his post after three Francois langur monkeys died at the zoo this week, but his resignation was refused, according to a statement issued by the zoo this afternoon.
The zoo's Board of Directors will wait for results of an independent audit before deciding how to respond to the latest animal deaths, zoo Chairman Jay Proops said in the statement.
"I do not feel it is in the best interest of the institution to even consider (Kevin Bell's) resignation until the audit is complete and the board can make clear judgments based on fact, rather than speculation," Proops said.
Animal rights activists have been calling for Bell's resignation since the May 1 death of Wankie, the third of the North Side institution's elephants to die since October.
The zoo today said that about 4 p.m. Tuesday, keepers discovered a 7-year-old female langur dead in its exhibit in the Helen Brach Primate House. Another langur, a 12-year-old male, was found dead in the exhibit Wednesday morning. The third langur died in the zoo hospital this morning.
University of Illinois pathologists were called in to perform necropsies, or animal autopsies. It may take several weeks for results to be returned. In the interim, the langur exhibit will remain emptied of animals.
The zoo said in its statement it would await necropsy results before stating a cause of death for the monkeys, but acknowledged "strong suspicions among zoo experts that the deaths are connected to a change of exhibit."
Proops said the zoo's board has asked the American Zoo and Aquarium Association to immediately convene an independent panel to review the zoo's animal care and management practices.
The review will begin this month and could take several weeks to complete, he said. Its report will go directly to the zoo's board.
Before Wankie's death, another Lincoln Park Zoo elephant, 35-year-old Tatima, died Oct. 16 of a rare lung disease. A second elephant, Peaches, 55, died Jan. 17 of age-related maladies.
After Peaches' death, the zoo decided to find a new home for Wankie, but the elephant did not survive its two-day trip by truck to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.
In a previous interview with the Tribune, Bell said the zoo was committed to a long-term study on whether it is harmful to keep elephants in cold-climate zoos. He said he had invited the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate Wankie's death, and had also asked for an independent audit of the zoo's elephant care.
Proops said shortly after Winkie's death that he and the zoo's board had given Bell "our unconditional support."