The State - News from June 8, 1988

A 15-year-old female lowland gorilla from the San Francisco Zoo mysteriously died of meningitis 10 days after being transferred to North Carolina for breeding. North Carolina zoo officials were trying to determine where the gorilla, named Patty, contracted the deadly disease. Patty died in her holding quarters at the Asheboro park where she was under a 30-day quarantine, required for all new animals, said zoo spokesman Rod Hackney. An autopsy showed the gorilla died of meningitis, which causes an inflammation of membranes lining the brain and spine. “I’m very sad about it,” San Francisco Zoo Director Saul Kitchener said. “I’ve known the animal since she was born at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. . . . When she left here, she was given two physicals and everything seemed fine.” Patty was moved to the North Carolina zoo in hopes that a change in environment would spur her to breed. Lowland gorillas are an endangered species.