COLUMBUS – Columbus zoo officials say they want to know if cancer contributed to the death of the beloved gorilla Colo this week.
Colo died in her sleep overnight Tuesday, less than a month after her 60th birthday.
She will be cremated and her ashes buried at an undisclosed location at the zoo where she was born, the first gorilla born in captivity, in 1956.
An animal autopsy, known as a necropsy, will be performed on the 60-year-old female western lowland gorilla to determine the cause of death.
A malignant tumor was removed from under Colo’s arm on Dec. 3. At that time surgeons felt they obtained “clean, wide margins when they removed the mass,” hospital officials said.
Until the results of the necropsy are returned in up to four weeks, it remains unknown if the cancer contributed to her death.
Officials say blood and tissue samples will also be collected to help experts learn more about the endangered species of gorilla, according to zoo officials.
Colo surpassed the usual life expectancy of captive gorillas by two decades.
Zoo president Tom Stalf says Colo inspired people to learn about her species and to help protect gorillas in their native habitat.
She eventually became a mother of three, grandmother of 16, great-grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of three.