Zakayo to be preserved for tourism attraction
The Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) have confirmed they will not bury Uganda’s oldest Chimpanzee Zakayo, but instead preserve him as a tourist attraction.
According to UWEC Executive Director, James Musinguzi, the remains of Zakayo will be preserved and only his intestines buried in a ceremony Saturday at the Zoo (UWEC) at 2:00pm.
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“The death of Zakayo is a big loss to the conservation fraternity according to Musinguzi since he acted as a legend and signature species that attracted tourists from across the world thus increasing revenue from tourism" Musinguzi said.
Zakayo, 54, passed on Thursday afternoon after he succumbed to Chronic Gastroenteritis brought by old age.
http://nilepost.co.ug/2018/04/26/ugandas-oldest-chimpanzee-zakayo-dies/
On June 10, 1964, Zakayo then aged one year was rescued from Bundibugyo by a white man who kept him until he was 14. He then surrendered him to UWEC at Entebbe in 1976 making Zakayo the alpha male until when he handed over power in 2011 to Matooke, another chimpanzee.
However, Matooke’s reign was short-lived as he was overthrown in a coup by another younger chimpanzee named Aluma.
By the time of his death, Zakayo was the most popular chimpanzee in the country. Chimpanzees according to statistics have a life span of 60 years in captivity and 45 in the wild.
