SEATTLE - A 23-year-old female patas monkey at Woodland Park Zoo was euthanized last week following severe weakness and lack of energy combined with a continued decline in health despite supportive care. She lived in the zoo’s award-winning African Savanna exhibit with four other patas monkeys - one male and three females. Patas monkeys can live to more than 20 years in zoos and 15 to 20 years in the wild.

According to zoo Associate Veterinarian Dr. Kelly Helmick, preliminary necropsy findings suggest that the decline in this monkey’s health was due to old age. Final confirmation is pending results of additional testing. Earlier this year, the elderly monkey underwent cataract surgery at the Animal Eye Clinic in Seattle. She was on treatment for arthritis of the knee at the time of euthanasia.

Patas monkeys, native to Africa, are primarily ground-dwelling primates and are often found in open bush and grass savanna regions. Their long, slender arms and legs enable them to run up to 35 miles per hour. When required, a patas can go from 0 to 33 miles per hour in three seconds! Patas monkeys are frequently hunted for its meat and because they are sometimes considered pests since they raid crops. Heavy cattle grazing and the conversion of savanna areas into farmland have reduced available habitat

Although patas monkeys are not listed as an endangered or threatened species, the same cannot be said for other old world monkeys. At least 27 other species of monkeys in the family Cercopithecidae are listed as endangered. Additionally, humans frequently hunt patas monkeys for their meat or because they are sometimes considered pests. Patas monkeys may raid cultivated crops. Furthermore, heavy cattle grazing and the conversion of savanna areas into farmland have reduced available habitat for patas monkeys. However, in some instances, deforestation has converted once humid areas into drier savanna zones. In turn, this actually increases suitable habitat for patas monkeys.

Zoo winter hours are 9:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. daily. For more information and about the zoo’s Rainy Day Tour, visit www.zoo.org or call 206.684.4800.

Woodland Park Zoo
Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.