DENVER (KDVR) — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo had to say goodbye to a longtime friend and familiar face, the 48-year-old gorilla Roxie, who was humanely euthanized on Tuesday due to her age affecting her health.
Roxie, who the zoo called their “Gorilla Icon,” was the fifth oldest Western lowland gorilla in the U.S. and the third oldest female among the species.
She was the zoo’s oldest animal companion and had spent her whole life alongside generations of gorilla friends, staff and visitors alike after being born at the zoo in 1976, four years before CDs, camcorders and the Nintendo Game Boy.
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The zoo said Roxie never had the opportunity to be a mother but became the perfect “cool aunt” that was integral to the cohesiveness and upbringing of the gorilla troop, whose species is critically endangered…