Jambu, a 40-year-old Sumatran orangutan and longtime Como Park Zoo and Conservatory resident, was humanely euthanized by veterinarians Thursday after they discovered cancerous masses on his liver, according to a post on the zoo’s website.
Born at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Jambu arrived at Como Zoo in the spring of 1995. He became a well-known personality in St. Paul and was known for his “long calls,” which are complex vocalizations made by male orangutans to announce their presence and strength in the jungle.
“Every day he would announce himself with his long call and it was incredible to hear,” Megan Elder, a primate zookeeper at Como Zoo, said in the post.
Zookeepers described Jambu as silly, sweet and creative despite his strength, with expressive eyes and a calm, thoughtful demeanor.
He had a female companion, Markisa, and fathered two female orangutans named Kemala and Jaya. The other orangutans will miss him, the post said.
Elder, who cared for Jambu for 23 years, remembered him as “deeply connected to his family” and a patient, playful father, though most male orangutans don’t have much of a relationship with their offspring.
He loved eating fruit, taught Kemala how to weave fabric through the mesh of their enclosure and enjoyed manicures and pedicures so much that he’d present his nails to zookeepers to get them.
Early results of his necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy, showed multiple cancerous masses in his liver, intestines, and colon, the post said, and his behavior had recently changed.
