'Feisty queen:' Atlanta zoo mourns Biji the orangutan, who lived to an 'exceptional' age

The Atlanta zoo is mourning the loss of one of its founding apes, a 52-year-old Sumatran orangutan named Biji whose medical condition helped her species throughout the U.S., zoo officials said.

Biji was in kidney failure and after a lack of improvement in her condition, the zoo euthanized her on Thursday.

The fact that she lived to be 52 is “exceptional,” the zoo said in a news release about her death. Orangutans are considered geriatric once they reach 40.

Helping orangutans throughout the U.S.

Biji lived at the zoo for more than 30 years and was part of a program involving blood draws, which allowed the zoo’s veterinary team to diagnose her illness nine years ago.

“Biji’s early diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of kidney disease greatly increased our knowledge of this condition in orangutans, and what we learned has helped other orangutans in human care throughout the country,” Sam Rivera, vice president of animal health, said in the release.

Biji was not only smart but she also had a “huge personality with a goofy side she only showed to those who knew her best,” said zoo staff.

Whenever animals die at the zoo, a necropsy, or non-human autopsy, is done. The same will be done for the the beloved Biji.

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Orangutan lived at the zoo for more than 30 years

Zoo Atlanta has one of North America’s largest populations of orangutans, including both Sumatran and Bornean orangutans. 

In the wild, many orangutans’ habitats have been wiped out due to deforestation for commercial palm oil production in their native home of Southeast Asia. They could be extinct within a decade without conservation efforts, the zoo said.

Biji first moved to Zoo Atlanta in 1988 as part of an original group of orangutans from Emory University’s Yerkes National Primate Research Center, the zoo said. 

Orangutans are known for their solitary nature and they typically only associate with others to mate or in places where they can get good amounts of food.  

When she arrived at the zoo, Biji made it known early on that she was quite the loner and instead took up various activities. Among her favorites: weaving and chillaxing in her hammock.

She was quite the special orangutan, Jodi Carrigan, curator of primates at the zoo, said in a Facebook post about her death.

“(She) will always hold a place in our hearts as our feisty queen.”

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