Calgary Zoo announces passing of Yusufu the mandrill [Video]

Yusufu, a 20-year-old mandrill who has lived at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo for a decade, has died.

The cause of death was complications caused by recovery from surgery for a serious intestinal issue.

The zoo’s animal care staff noticed a dramatic change in Yusufu’s behaviour during their daily morning check one day in March, including what appeared to be significant abdominal discomfort.

A diagnostic test discovered the intestinal issue, which was acute and serious. Yusufu underwent emergency abdominal surgery where it was discovered that a large part of his small intestine was compromised and needed to be removed.

While Yusufu was stable during surgery, he died in recovery.

A necropsy revealed a number of previous incidents of abdominal inflammation that caused significant damage to his intestine, and also degenerative damage to his heart.

The median life expectancy for mandrills in human care, the zoo said on its Facebook post, is …