8 July, 2018
The world’s oldest known Sumatran orangutan has died at an Australian zoo.
Puan, described as the 'grand old lady' of Perth Zoo, died this week aged 62. She left behind 54 descendants.
She had been at the Zoo since 1968, and was officially recognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest of her species, in 2016.
A critically endangered species, Sumatran orangutans rarely reach the age of 50 in the wild, the zoo said.
Believed to have been born in a jungle in Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1956, Puan left an 'incredible legacy' of 11 children and a total of 54 descendants across the US, Europe and elsewhere, the Zoo said.