A 50-year old Chimpanzee, in the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Zoo has died. This was announced by the Head of Department, Zoology and Environmental Studies, Prof Chris Okoye. It was gathered that the chimpanzee was the only surviving one in the zoo and had died, as a result of old age and loneliness.
The HOD said that, there use to be a female chimpanzee usually referred as the wife of this chimpanzee, and it died five years ago and since then the male chimpanzee had been lonely. The dead chimpanzee has however been embalmed.
''As the tradition of the department, the chimpanzee has been embalmed and deposited in the department’s Museum for practical and for people on excursion to the museum to see.
He added ''We do not eat or bury animals in our zoo when they die, rather we embalm and keep them in the museum”.
“Zoos play important roles in wildlife conservation, research and education, and It cost huge amount of money to buy animals like chimpanzees, lions, and elephants as well as to feed them. The HOD called on both federal and state governments to do something urgently to improve funding of zoos in the country else, in the next 10 years, zoos may completely go into extinction.
