Chantek, um orangotango do sexo masculino, foi dos primeiros primatas a aprender língua gestual. Conseguia limpar o seu ‘quarto’ e memorizar o caminho para um restaurante de fast food. Morreu, esta segunda-feira, aos 39 anos, anunciou em comunicado o zoo de Atlanta.

Viveu nove anos com a antropóloga Lyn Miles, no Tennessee, EUA, mas foi no zoo de Atlanta que passou os seus últimos anos para tratar a sua doença de coração. Caracterizado pela sua “personalidade cativante”, Chantek vai “deixar muitas saudades”, dizem os funcionários do zoo. Tinha ainda algumas particularidades, como ser capaz de arrumar o seu próprio espaço, usar ferramentas e até memorizou o caminho para um restaurante de fast food, conta a BBC.

Ele tinha uma personalidade única e cativante e formas especiais de se relacionar com aqueles que o conheciam melhor. Foi um privilégio estar com ele durante 20 anos”, lê-se no comunicado.

As aprendizagens de Chantek, um dos primatas mais velhos do zoo, foram demonstradas no documentário The Ape Who Went to College, de 2014. A causa de morte ainda não é conhecida, mas suspeita-se que se deva à prolongada doença cardíaca, principal causa de morte entre grandes primatas, como o caso dos orangotangos nos zoológicos.

As espécies de Orangotango-de-sumatra e orangotango-de-bornéu estão listadas como criticamente em perigo de extinção na natureza. Ambas enfrentam quedas acentuadas em números populacionais devido à perda de habitat, indústria madeireira e invasão humana, afirmo o zoológico.

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The Zoo Atlanta family is saddened to announce the passing of Chantek, a 39-year-old male orangutan, on August 7, 2017. Although his cause of death is not yet known, the Zoo’s Animal Care and Veterinary Teams had been treating Chantek with a regimen of advanced medical therapy targeted at mitigating his progressive heart disease. At 39, he was one of the oldest living male orangutans within the North American population of individuals overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Orangutan Species Survival Plan® (SSP). Orangutans are considered geriatric after the age of about 35. Born December 17, 1977, at the Yerkes Language Research Center, Chantek was a beloved member of the Zoo’s orangutan population for 20 years, arriving at Zoo Atlanta in 1997. He was well-known for his knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL), learned prior to his arrival at the Zoo. Although he frequently used ASL to communicate with his caregivers, with whom he developed close personal bonds throughout his years at Zoo Atlanta, he was shy about signing with individuals he did not know and often chose forms of communication which are more typical of orangutans, such as vocalizations and unique hand gestures. “Chantek will be deeply missed by his family here at Zoo Atlanta. He had such a unique and engaging personality and special ways of relating to and communicating with those who knew him best. It has been our privilege to have had him with us for 20 years and to have been given the opportunity to offer him a naturalistic environment where he could get to know and live with his orangutan family,” said Hayley Murphy, DVM, Vice President of Animal Divisions. “Chantek’s long life is a great testament to the dedication of his care team and to the work of the Great Ape Heart Project, the combined efforts of which made it possible for us to give him the best care and quality of life the zoological community has to offer.” Please click the link in our bio to read the full story.

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Chantek nasceu no Yerkes National Primate Research Center, em 1977.