Extract from ABC News
A regional Queensland zoo is mourning the loss of a much-loved chimpanzee that died unexpectedly yesterday afternoon, leaving her surrogate son without a mother.
The Rockhampton Regional Council, which manages the local zoo, said 40-year-old chimp Samantha had been "enjoying her dinner" and "acting normally" late Wednesday afternoon, before being found unresponsive 20 minutes later.
"Sam was eating and happy and doing her normal stuff, she loves food, so she was well and truly in her element," Councillor Cherie Rutherford said.
"The keeper went off to do a couple of other chores and came back with her medication … and found her unresponsive in the night house.
"We're just absolutely devastated, our staff, it hit them very hard as people would imagine.
"She really held a special place in everyone's heart."
Cr Rutherford said Samantha was diagnosed with early-stage heart disease in 2020, and had been taking medication for that.
"[So] we're suspecting maybe it was heart failure … but certainly she had shown no signs of ill health at all," she said.
An autopsy has been conducted, with staff awaiting results to confirm the exact cause of death.
Cr Rutherford said life expectancy for chimpanzees in the wild was between 38 and 40 years.
Yearning to be a mother
Samantha arrived in Rockhampton in 2012, alongside fellow female chimpanzee Holly.
Though Samantha had come from a New Zealand zoo, she was described as "socially awkward" due to a lack of interaction with other chimps.
Since then, she has been no stranger to heartbreak.
Zookeepers had to nurse her through the grief of two stillbirths in 2019 and 2021.
She then lost fellow chimp Holly, who died in 2022.
However, out of the loss came a bittersweet positive — Samantha finally got a chance at motherhood.
She became the surrogate mother to Holly's cheeky son Gandali, aged three at the time.
"She just always wanted to be a mother, you could always tell that she was so nurturing of [fellow young chimpanzee] Capri, she was such a good aunty," Cr Rutherford said.
"She just had that really caring nature about her if you watched her with the troop, she was always grooming and building relationships."
Samantha and Gandali's bond became incredibly strong, as seen when Gandali nearly died after being bitten by a brown snake in 2023.
The young chimp was bitten when he mistook the snake for a toy, but Samantha rushed to his aid, picked him up and was reluctant to release him to the keepers.
The pair enjoyed a heartwarming reunion once Gandali had recovered.
However, Cr Rutherford said Gandali also had a "really good" relationship with his father, Alon.
"Being that male, Alon has really taken him under his wing and we're fairly confident that he will continue to do that," she said.
"Gandali will continue to grow and prosper and one day be a great alpha male in his own right."
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