World's Oldest Orangutan Dies at 61

Inji, a 61-year-old female orangutan who lived at the Oregon Zoo in the US and was thought to be the oldest in the world, was euthanized on Saturday following a battle against ill health.

In the wild, orangutans seldom live past the age of 40, but Inji managed to make it to 61.

Inji's date of birth is unknown. She was born in the wild around 1960 and arrived in the US through the wild animal trade, which was legal back then, and was brought to the zoo by her owner in 1961. She was believed to be a year old when she arrived at the zoo on January 30, 1961.

Zookeepers stated that Inji had been slowing down over the recent years and had rarely left her nest box in recent weeks and was no longer interested in food.

They euthanized her on Saturday after it became apparent that pain medication was no longer helping her.

Staff at the zoo have been left devastated at her death and paid tribute to Inji through a video posted on the Oregon Zoo's social media accounts on Sunday.

The caption to the video read: "In loving memory of Inji. At 61, she was the world’s oldest known orangutan, and one of the sweetest."

https://twitter.com/OregonZoo/status/1348058505589125121?s=20

The Zookeepers plan to honor Inji at the opening of the Primate Forest, the Oregon Zoo’s new habitat for chimpanzees and orangutans which is set to open in spring.

The oldest orangutan ever know was named Puan and lived at Perth Zoo in Australia when she died in June 2018. Puan was 62 years old.