Jessie the chimp at Wellington Zoo. Photo: Supplied / Wellington Zoo
The matriarch of Wellington Zoo's chimp community, 46-year-old Jessie, has died.
In a post on Facebook, the zoo said Jessie was euthanised on Wednesday morning due to poor health.
"In recent months, Jessie's health had noticeably deteriorated due to age-related conditions, including degenerative arthritis, that we were no longer able to manage with pain medication," it said.
Jessie the chimp at Wellington Zoo. Photo: Supplied / Wellington Zoo
"As time went on, she was eating less food, staying inside more, and not interacting with the other chimps.
"As with all the animals we care for, Jessie's welfare and quality of life are our top priorities, and this week we made the difficult decision to euthanize her."
Jessie, born in July 1978, was a "big character" who was loved by visitors and staff, and who loved her keepers, it said.
"She would greet them when they came into the house in the morning and give them a send-off on their way out. Jessie helped our keepers out by retrieving things that fell in the habitat or clearing slides when they were blocked by straw."
She lived at the zoo her whole life, and forged a strong friendship with Akida, the youngest chimp in the community.
"Of all Jessie's gorgeous qualities, perhaps the most well-known was that she loved colorful [sic] shoes and could never get enough of sparkly boots or exciting shoelaces."
Jessie will be greatly missed, the zoo said.