(Fox News) – The Louisville Zoo in Louisville, Kentucky,
announced it made the tough decision to euthanize Helen
on Friday, Oct. 14,  because her quality of life declined for
several months due to natural aging.

The zoo said Helen had been in "remarkably good health
for most of her life" despite being diagnosed with "expected
age-related arthritis and some periodontal disease.”

According to the media release, In recent months, Helen
developed instability and tremors that put her at fall risk
and impacted her day-to-day life. 

Female zoo gorillas typically have a median life expectancy
of about 39 years.

Helen’s estimated birth year is 1958, and she was born in the
wilderness of Western Africa, which is now modern-day
Cameroon.

Leah the chimpanzee (May 15, 1974 – April 4, 2022) 

Zoo officials said, in an announcement made Monday, the
chimpanzee died in her sleep Sunday night. 

She is survived by her big sister Delilah, who turns 49 next
month, 50-year-old male Jackson and 53-year-old troop leader
Chloe.

.

Colo died January 2017 at age 60 in the zoo where she was so
famously born. (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)

On December 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the world at the
Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. She
Weighed in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla
whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter
of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who
were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas
found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to
capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to
handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family members.

Colo, who generated enormous public interest, went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving
infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first
baby in 2003.

Packy (April 14, 1962 – February 9, 2017)

Packy was an Asian elephant at the 64-acre Oregon Zoo located in Portland,
Oregon. He was famous for having been the first elephant born in the Western Hemisphere in 44 years. At the time of his death, he was the oldest male Asian
elephant in North America. In July 2013, Packy was diagnosed with tuberculosis
and was euthanized today following the veterinarians’ decision that his TB was
was drug resistant.

Colo, the first gorilla to be born in captivity, was born at the Columbus, Ohio
zoo. Rejected at birth by her mother, zookeepers had to hand-raise Colo
much like a human child, by dressing her in clothes and giving her bottle of
formula. At the age of two years old,she was introduced to a 19-month-old
male from Africa called Bongo. The couple had three offspring, the first
on February 1, 1968, Emmy, a female, Oscar, born July 18, 1969, and
Toni, on December 28, 1971.

Colo is now the oldest living gorilla in captivity, following the death of 55-year-
old Jenny in September 2008.

 
  Photo taken during Colo’s 58th birthday party.