The female chimp Maggie at the SF Zoo was one of the five oldest chimpanzees in the United States, but had been suffering from lymphoma, and the SF Zoo just announced that she has died.
The San Francisco Zoo’s chimpanzee group has long been mother-figured by the likes of Minnie and Maggie, who are not biological twins, but were the same age when they arrived here together from the wild way back in 1970. The two enjoyed their annual New Year’s Eve glass of apple juice together, as seen below. Minnie passed away in May 2024, so the last year has been tough for Maggie. Add to that she was diagnosed with lymphoma, and has been in palliative care since not long after Minnie’s death.
And today, the Chronicle reports that Maggie has died. She was 56.
"Maggie was a true matriarch in every sense of the word, often ensuring harmony within the troop," the zoo’s executive director and CEO Tanya Peterson said in a statement to the Chronicle. "Although she allowed the males to think they were the alpha, Maggie would step in when needed, asserting her leadership with strength and grace."
At age 56, Maggie was one of the five oldest chimpanzees in the US. Her former troop mate Cobby lived to be 63, becoming the oldest reigning chimp in the nation, until his death at the SF Zoo in 2021.
And critics may note that this is the second ape death at the SF Zoo in six weeks, after the 43-year-old Western Lowland gorilla Oscar Jonesy died in early February. There are certainly still questions about the much younger Oscar Jonesy’s death while under anesthesia. But Maggie had lived well past her life expectancy, and was ill.
Still, Maggie’s death does bring up some difficult questions for the zoo. Their chimpanzee brood is now down to only three, which is considered too small to be healthy (experts recommend broods of at least eight). So the SF Zoo may need to re-home those few remaining chimps, or find a way to get more chimps from another zoo or facility.
Related: SF Zoo’s Last Remaining Male Gorilla, Oscar Jonesy, Has Died at Age 43 [SFist]
Image: San Francisco Zoo via Facebook
