Back to News Page

Thomas Geissmann, Gibbon Research Lab., Zürich
thomas.geissmann@aim.unzh.ch

Aug. 2003

'Fang', a male white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar), named because of a protruding upper canine, died on 30 July 2003 at the Metrozoo Miami (FL). After suffering a severe stroke on 28 July, he was euthanized because of his old age and because the stroke left him incapacitated. He was 49 years old. 'Fang' was Metrozoo's oldest mammal and the second-oldest gibbon in captivity.

Born in April 16, 1954 at the San Francisco Zoo, 'Fang' was transferred to the Key Biscayne's Crandon Park Zoo at the age of 8, before arriving at Metrozoo in 1980. Fang was breeding as recently as 2002. The zoo doesn't have an exact count but estimates Fang had between 7 and 10 offspring during his life.

Sources:

MetroZoo loses oldest mammal resident: 50-year-old gibbon euthanized after stroke. Click10.com July 30, 2003.
http://www.local10.com/news/2369861/detail.html

de Gale, A. (2003): Metrozoo loses Fang, its oldest mammal. The Miami Herald July 31, 2003.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/6422098.htm

Metrozoo star 'Fang' dies. Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fl.) Aug. 1, 2003: p. B.5.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/orlandosentinel/378317951.html?did=378317951&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&desc=METROZOO+STAR+%60FANG%27+DIES