A white-cheeked gibbon, named Muneca, who was old for her critically endangered species, died Sept. 28, 2018, at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington. (Mehgan Murphy/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)She was a distant cousin to all of us, but she was old, perhaps the oldest of her kind in America, and on Friday, the National Zoo’s white-cheeked gibbon was euthanized. Named Muneca, she was born in Cambodia, came to the zoo in 1999, and at 51, the zoo said, she was the oldest white-cheeked gibbon in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan population. It showed, according to the zoo, in her eagerness for attention and in her obvious dissatisfaction when it shifted away. In its statement, the zoo said her health deteriorated significantly in the past several days, and it was decided to end her life.

Source: Washington Post September 29, 2018 01:56 UTC