San Francisco and the SF Zoo’s gorilla preserve are mourning Thursday's death of 43-year-old Western Lowland gorilla Oscar Jonesy, who died unexpectedly following a medical procedure.

The San Francisco Zoo’s gorilla preserve has had local legend great ape Oscar Jonesy as its alpha male since 2004. Oscar was born July 31, 1981 at the Buffalo Zoo in New York, and made his way to the SF Zoo in 2004. In his time here, he fathered many gorilla young ‘uns, and captivated zoo visitors for more than 20 years. But the Chronicle has the news that Oscar Jonesy died Thursday, while recovering from anesthesia after some sort of medical procedure. He was 43.


“Oscar was the third-oldest male of his species in any U.S. zoo, and I know many cared about him deeply. I know I did,” SF Zoo CEO and executive director Tanya Peterson said in an email to zoo supporters obtained by the Chronicle. “I have watched him resolve conflicts among his troops, witnessed his strength and tenderness, and have been humbled by his empathy and intelligence.”


It has not been disclosed exactly what sort of medical procedure the Western Lowland gorilla was undergoing. But the procedure was considered successful at the time, and Oscar simply became unresponsive while coming out of anesthesia.  

“Oscar’s procedure originally went well,” the zoo’s chief veterinarian Dr. Adrian Mutlow told KGO. “But despite showing initial signs of recovery, he suddenly became unresponsive and stopped breathing. We responded immediately but even with the assistance of critical care specialists from Stanford, we were unable to revive him.”


The exact cause of death is still unknown. The UC Davis Veterinary School is expected to perform a necropsy on him Saturday.


But we can frankly expect some questions are going to be asked of the zoo, considering recent audits that described the facility as “unsafe” for animals. Many will recall the 2014 death of Oscar’s daughter Kabine when that 16-month-old baby gorilla was crushed to death by a hydraulic door. That incident had zoo staff and management openly trading barbs about who was at fault. The US Department of Agriculture fined the zoo $1,750 for the incident, a dollar amount that animal rights advocates considered ridiculously low.

There will certainly be a time for those recriminations, if the recriminations should be merited. For now, Oscar is survived by three females in his troop: Bawang, Monifa and Kimani. The zoo’s vice president of animal care Dominick Dorsa told KRON4 that those females would be monitored “as they go through a mourning period.”

Related: Cherished 39-Year-Old Western Lowland Gorilla Dies at SF Zoo [SFist]

Image: San Francisco Zoo via Facebook