Pattycake, the first gorilla born in New York City, died on Sunday, March 29,2013. She was 40 years old, the Bronx Zoo said.
She was under medical care and was being treated for chronic cardiac issues, the zoo said.
Jim Breheny, the Bronx Zoo’s director, said she had been discovered around 8 a.m. by a worker in the zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest. Apparently, she went peacefully, in her sleep.
Pattycake was born at New York’s Central Park Zoo on Sept. 3, 1972 and lived there with her parents Kongo and Lulu. In 1983, she went to live at the Bronx Zoo.
“Millions of children in New York City grew up with Pattycake at the Bronx Zoo,” Breheny said.
Here’s a video about Pattycake’s life.
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