News-Record.com

The unexplained deaths of two gibbons Wednesday was “gut-wrenching,” Natural Science Center Executive Director Glenn Dobrogosz said the next day. But the sad event won’t, and shouldn’t, end the Greensboro zoo’s plan to participate in breeding programs for the endangered Southeast Asian apes.

Dobrogosz, who personally escorted Beau and Jambi from a zoo in Syracuse, N.Y., last year, seemed devastated but determined to obtain another pair pending Species Survival Plan approval. The captive-breeding management program is operated by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which this year granted accreditation for the Natural Science Center.

First, as much as possible about the deaths has to be learned. The animals did not regain consciousness after routine physical exams under anesthesia.

“We simply can’t find anything that went wrong,” Dobrogosz said.

“This kind of unfortunate occurrence is not unheard of,” said Steven Feldman, the AZA’s senior vice president for communications.

Two chimpanzees died under similar circumstances at the N.C. Zoo in 2005. In one instance, a 29-year-old male was found to have died of heart failure. Unfortunately, there are still significant knowledge gaps regarding the physiology of gibbons.

Beau, the male, was nearly 42, an old age. But Jambi, the female, was only 12, not quite breeding age. Her death was especially troubling and a terrible loss to the captive breeding stock.

The gibbons were popular attractions here, but breeding is a key reason for keeping these very active animals in captivity. Natural habitats — dense rain forests in Southeast Asia — are rapidly disappearing, threatening gibbons’ survival.

The Natural Science Center built a spacious habitat for gibbons and earned approval for Species Survival Plan participation. The two deaths are a bitter blow, but they should not end hopes that eventually gibbons will breed successfully in Greensboro.