in 62 years old, Betty was the oldest chimpanzee still under human care and the one who had spent the most time in the Dublin Zoo. She passed away last week. She was one among the most beloved and well-known animals in the zoo.
According to a zoo blog post, Betty had age-related illnesses that were lowering her quality of life, and the difficult decision to take her own life was made to save her from more suffering.
Though it is devastating to lose Betty, she had a long life—longer than most chimpanzees kept in captivity. At the time of her passing, she was also the oldest chimpanzee under human care, according to the zoo.
After working as a zookeeper in Dublin Zoo since 1987, team leader Helen Clarke Bennett, who has known Betty for a long time, paid homage to her.
Betty, a chimpanzee from West Africa, arrived in Dublin in 1964. Bennett points out that at that time, Betty engaged in antiquated customs like “Chimp Tea Parties” and the Dublin Zoo kept up its operations in the “style of the early Victorian era zoos.”
During Betty’s decades-long captivity, she witnessed significant improvements in zoo standards. For instance, the chimp habitat was changed from a concrete “pit” with bars made of metal to an island with trees in the 1990s.
Bennett stated that he had known Betty since the early days of the zoo since her father, Michael Clarke, was caring for her at that time. He said that the chimp was “always strong-minded” and that she would not give up on her objectives.
For the most portion of her life, Betty’s best friend Wendy was a constant in her life after Wendy relocated in 1964. The two monkeys made one of the prettiest partnerships in the zoo.
“Betty could hold Wendy accountable, even though she had a cheeky side.” Bennett wrote the article. “One of my favorite pictures will always be Betty putting her arm around Wendy to encourage her to go outside with the rest of the troop when she was stubbornly refusing to go outside while the habitat was being cleaned.”
In 2012, Betty and Wendy got together at the zoo to commemorate their 50th birthdays. Betty, who was distraught by Wendy’s death in 2014, was thought to be close behind by the zoo staff.
She continued to survive for a further ten years, becoming the dominant female chimpanzee and the longest-serving resident of the zoo.
Bennett reported that Betty’s declining renal function and persistent arthritis in her latter years had an impact on her weight and range of motion. She also received ongoing wellness monitoring.
When all medical and surgical options had been exhausted, they were forced to make the difficult but compassionate choice to put the cherished chimp to death. Despite her passing, Betty will always be remembered as a one-of-a-kind original and a zoogoer’s favorite for many years to come.
“With all of my sadness, I am certain that Betty made the correct decision in choosing euthanasia to terminate her life, as it would have ensured that she didn’t suffer needlessly and preserved her dignity until the very end. That makes me feel really comfortable,” Bennett wrote.
“There will never be another Betty like her; everyone here at Dublin Zoo along with the many generations of visitors who were fortunate enough to know her will miss her terribly.”
Betty, peace be with you. You had a very long life, and you were clearly loved and cared for by those around you.
