Bad week in the animal kingdom

Cinder 1994-2009

I love me some Cinder. Love her, I have loved her since she was born, and we have visited her at least once a year since then. She is so funny, and I just want to hug her. I even took Holly and her girls to visit her when they came from Pennsylvania last year--that is how much I love me some Cinder. I think I love her cuz she was nekkid, in that all her hair fell out from alopecia. Cinder did not care if she had hair--unless of course she got sunburned, then I imagine she cared.

My mom thinks maybe she was related to us. That could be. There is a lot of nekkid in this group too.

Anyway, I just heard this on the news and took this article from the St Louis Zoo website to post here. The following pics came from there too--but the one on the top I took this year. She was such a ham, it was fun to take pics of her.

Sad News About Cinder

Cinder, a 14-year-old chimpanzee at the Saint Louis Zoo who was best known by her fans as "the hairless chimp," died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday afternoon, February 15, 2009. She will be very much missed by our staff, our volunteers and visitors.

Sunday started out as another normal day in the Jungle of the Apes, according to Curator of Primates Ingrid Porton. As always, upon arrival the keepers checked all the apes. Eight of the 11 chimpanzees were at various stages of a cold that was going through the group. Cinder, one of the first to catch the cold, had none of the runny nose and cough symptoms she had shown last week. She welcomed the keepers with her signature pant-greeting while presenting her belly for tickling. Her appetite and attitude were good.

The keepers were busy giving all the apes their afternoon snack when they heard a series of alarm barks coming from the chimpanzees. They found Cinder collapsed on the floor with alpha male, Hugo, next to her. He tried to get her to respond. After separating the group from her, the keepers and zoological manager of primates began trying to resuscitate her even before veterinary help arrived. She was immediately given emergency drugs intravenously. Resuscitation attempts were continued, but without success.

A necropsy with preliminary results from the Saint Louis Zoo's pathologist did not show an obvious cause of unexpected death. Further laboratory tests are being conducted on tissue samples, blood samples and bacterial cultures taken from the necropsy. Results from the tests are expected in three to four weeks.

"Her death is a huge shock to all of us who took care of and watched her grow up," says Porton. "Cinder was an unexpected baby. Her mother, Mollie, and father, Smoke, were brought to the Saint Louis Zoo to become foster parents to Hugo. The two were experienced parents, but their last baby had been born nine years earlier, and it was thought that offspring was to be their last. Thus, the Zoo was surprised when Mollie gave birth to a healthy girl on August 9, 1994."

Background on Cinder

When she was five months old, Cinder began losing her hair. Zoo veterinarians, along with medical specialists in dermatology, determined she had a condition called Alopecia universalis. An autoimmune disease, it also occurs in about 2% of the human population.

"We were worried about negative reactions from visitors when Cinder lost all her hair," explains Porton. "We didn't want her viewed as a freak so that they couldn't see her as another member of our chimpanzee family who had a distinct and complex personality. Although some visitors were disconcerted by her naked state, most people showed compassion and genuine interest.

"Cinder's unusual appearance never affected her relationships with the other chimps. Many people remarked that humans could learn a lesson from our group."

Cinder was there for the introduction of all five foster brothers and sisters. She was a coddled baby when Jimmy, Hugo and Mlinzi were accepted into Mollie and Smoke's family. She was jealous of Mollie's attention when Holly and Bakari were fostered into the growing family but showed a maternal attitude towards young Tammy when she joined the family in 2003. Although she had no hair for Tammy to cling to, Cinder let the youngster ride on her back.

"We still miss Cinder's mother, Mollie, who died in 2004 at approximately 37 years of age," adds Porton. "Her 41-year-old father, Smoke, is still with us. Though Cinder died at a relatively young age, we find solace in the fact that she lived an active, happy life, developed close social relationships within her ever-growing family group and learned to love the great outdoors at Donn & Marilyn Lipton Fragile Forest, where her naked body was transformed from a pale white to an attractive tan."