Visitors at the Como Zoo will no longer be welcomed by a familiar, large orange primate with beady eyes.
The oldest animal resident at the St. Paul zoo, an orangutan named Amanda, was euthanized at the age of 46 years, said Megan Elder, Como Zoo primate zookeeper.
"She touched so many people," said Elder, who had worked with Amanda for 20 years. "She's always been here. We're going to be grieving forever."
A longtime favorite of guests, she showed keen interest in humans, especially when they would come up to the glass barrier and show her things from their pockets.
"She was very engaging and interested in people and with the keepers, she always wanted them to spend time with them," Elder said. "She was very focused on humans and what they had and what they were doing."
In honor of her long life, Mayor Melvin Carter declared Dec. 19, 2022, Amanda the Orangutan Day in St. Paul.
Amanda was a hybrid orangutan, meaning she was born from interbreeding between any of the three orangutan species, Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli. Because a hybrid wouldn't be found in the wild, zoo staff decided that Amanda shouldn't have offspring.
To her fellow primates in the orangutan exhibit, she became like a much-loved aunt.