MIAMI – 29 December 2007 – Nonja, a 55-year-old Sumatran orangutan, was found dead by her keeper Saturday morning at the Metrozoo.

Nonja was believed to be the world’s oldest Sumatran Orangutan and was well-known by zoo visitors. Each June, the zoo hosted a huge bash to celebrate her birthday.

Zoo officials said she had begun to show signs of age, but was not sick. A necropsy will be performed to determine her cause of death.

Nonja, which means “girl” in Dutch, came to Metrozoo in October 1983 from the Wassenar Zoo in Holland.

She was born in the wild in Sumatra in June 1952. She gave birth to five babies, who in turn produced at least two other offspring in captivity.

“Metrozoo is proud to have provided Nonja with a home that allowed her to live such a long a prosperous life. She will be missed,” zoo officials said in a statement.

Source: http://www.nbc6.net/news/14944902/detail.html?rss=ami&psp=news

**********MIAMI — A 55-year-old Sumatran orangutan, believed to be the world’s oldest, died Saturday, according to a Miami zoo spokesman.Nonja, who was born on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has lived in Miami since 1983, was found dead Saturday morning, said Ron Magill, spokesman for the Miami Metro Zoo.”Everybody’s very sad, especially with an animal like an orangutan,” Magill said. “You see a lot of yourself in these animals. The great apes are our closest relatives.”

A necropsy is to be performed in the next few days. A typical life span for Sumatran orangutans is 40 to 50 years, Magill said.

Nonja had slowed down in recent years because of her age, Mcgill added, but “wasn’t geriatric by any means.”

The primate matriarch held her own very well, Magill said, “sometimes against orangutans twice her size.”

“She was really a grand old dame,” Magill said. “She really was.

Source: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071229/APN/712290862

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Necropsy results show a 55-year-old Sumatran orangutan, believed to be the world’s oldest, choked to death.

A Miami Metro Zoo spokesman says Nonja suffered a brain hemorrhage that made her pass out and vomit. She choked on her vomit and was found dead Saturday.

Nonja was born on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has lived in Miami since 1983. Despite her age, Nonja was in good health.

A typical life span for Sumatran orangutans is 40 to 50 years.

Further testing will determine what caused the brain hemorrhage.

The results could take two weeks.

http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b499fa9e-619e-4175-b4fb-c69d9ce41233&rss=762

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