R.I.P Mopie

Mopie, a silverback western lowland gorilla at the Zoo, died July 3 during routine social introductions between the two groups of gorillas at the Great Ape House. In 1998, he was diagnosed with fibrosing cardiomyopathy, a chronic disease of the heart muscle that results in its decreased ability to pump blood throughout the body. In the days before his death, he was very active and was not showing signs of illness. It is not yet clear the extent to which his cardiomyopathy contributed to his death. Zoo pathologists will conduct a necropsy on Mopie, as is done on all Zoo animals upon death, to determine information that may clarify the cause of death.