Cheetah, the chimpanzee dies at age 80 owing to kidney failure on December 24.
Cheetah played Tarzan's comic sidekick from 1932 to 1934. He was one of the most famous animal stars of the 1930s. He starred with Johnny Weissmuller in Depression-era adventure films like “Tarzan the Ape Man” and “Tarzan and His Mate.”
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary says the community "has lost a dear friend and family member" with the death of Cheetah.
Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. He wasn’t a troublemaker but sometime when he didn’t like what was going on, he would throw feces.
“He was very compassionate,” Ms. Debbie Cobb the director at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary said. “He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings.”
The interesting thing is that average chimp survives 25 to 35 years in the wild and 35 to 45 years in zoos. But Cheetah lived for 80 years. That’s incredible.
Dr. Steve Ross, assistant director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, said he found it “very improbable” that a chimpanzee who appeared in films in the 1930s would still be alive in 2011.
“To live into your 70s is really pushing the limits of chimp biology,” Dr. Ross said in a telephone interview. “Eighty is tough to swallow.”
Cheetah played Tarzan's comic sidekick from 1932 to 1934. He was one of the most famous animal stars of the 1930s. He starred with Johnny Weissmuller in Depression-era adventure films like “Tarzan the Ape Man” and “Tarzan and His Mate.”
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary says the community "has lost a dear friend and family member" with the death of Cheetah.
Cheetah was outgoing, loved finger painting and liked to see people laugh. He wasn’t a troublemaker but sometime when he didn’t like what was going on, he would throw feces.
“He was very compassionate,” Ms. Debbie Cobb the director at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary said. “He could tell if I was having a good day or a bad day. He was always trying to get me to laugh if he thought I was having a bad day. He was very in tune to human feelings.”
The interesting thing is that average chimp survives 25 to 35 years in the wild and 35 to 45 years in zoos. But Cheetah lived for 80 years. That’s incredible.
Dr. Steve Ross, assistant director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, said he found it “very improbable” that a chimpanzee who appeared in films in the 1930s would still be alive in 2011.
“To live into your 70s is really pushing the limits of chimp biology,” Dr. Ross said in a telephone interview. “Eighty is tough to swallow.”
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