One of the 12 chimpanzees at the Kansas City Zoo died Wednesday after falling from a dead branch in its habitat, zoo officials have confirmed.
A release from the zoo said Bahati died from injuries sustained after a sort of “skirmish” between other chimps, a well-documented part of chimpanzee social behavior.
Bahati, just a few weeks over 31 years old, arrived at the KC Zoo from Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo in February of this year.
The zoo statement called Bahati’s death an “unfortunate accident” caused by a dead branch. Further investigation was underway, including a planned necropsy.
In addition to continual branch and tree maintenance from zoo staff members, the trees in the three-acre chimpanzee exhibit are also trimmed once a year or so, the release said.
It’s unclear how far Baharti fell or what kind of injuries he sustained.
