Durrell mourn their ‘bundle of joy’

Saturday 13th October 2007, 12:00AM BST.

DURRELL staff are said to be devastated by the death of four-year-old gorilla Ya Pili.

The primate died yesterday from what was believed to be a viral illness. Staff have confirmed that, despite having thought that Ya Pili was a male since birth, she was in fact a female. They only confirmed the sex when they started treating her for the illness this week, although the head of the team who looks after the gorillas, Richard Johnstone-Scott, had always been suspicious that Ya Pili was in fact a female. Born in July 2003, Ya Pili had never been medically examined because she had been healthy- the animals are anaesthetised only when absolutely necessary.

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