Beloved Bronx Zoo Gorilla Dead At 40

“She was once celebrated as ‘the Shirley Temple of the animal world.’ She was so popular that she became the subject of a custody battle between two competing zoos. When she suffered a broken arm, rapt New Yorkers followed every twist and turn of her convalescence. Her name was Pattycake, and she was the first gorilla born in New York City. She died on Sunday at the Bronx Zoo at 40 years old.”
 — Raise a banana to Pattycake, the sweetheart of the Bronx Zoo and the first native New Yorker of her species. She’ll be replaced by somebody with a graduate degree and a part-time blogging job looking for cheaper rent and a “fresh scene.”

Photo by Rich Brooks.