Chimp killed by bite from rattlesnake in Los Angeles Zoo

GRIFFITH PARK - A chimpanzee died last week at the Los Angeles Zoo after being bitten by a rattlesnake, zoo officials said Monday.

The chimp died Wednesday after it was bitten by a rattler that fell into the Mahali Mountain chimpanzee exhibit, zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said.

The snake bit the chimp from a bush inside its habitat, Jacobs said, adding that antivenin failed to save the primate. A necropsy is being performed on the animal.

A zookeeper close to the situation gave a different account of the incident, saying the chimp's minders waited hours before calling help.

The keeper, who asked to remain anonymous, said the 25-year-old male chimp was bitten

at 1 p.m. and got a bad case of the shakes.

"They didn't call anyone til 3 p.m., and then they didn't even call a vet; they called The Reptile House," according to the keeper.

The zookeeper said that instead of giving the chimp antivenin, zoo veterinarians gave him Benadryl.

Rattlesnakes are common in rustic Griffith Park, Jacobs said, but snake-related deaths of zoo animals are rare. Seven years ago, a pair of lemurs died from snakebites, he said.

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LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Zoo officials defended their handling of a chimpanzee that died last week after being bitten by a rattlesnake that fell into the Mahali Mountain exhibit.

"In this particular case, I think our actions were appropriate," veterinarian Curtis Eng said. "We responded very quickly when we got the radio call. We were down there assessing the animal within about 10 minutes."

The chimp died last Wednesday and the results of a necropsy are still pending.

A zookeeper who asked to remain anonymous told the Daily News that the chimp was bitten at about 1 p.m., but officials didn't notify anyone for about two hours. The zookeeper also said veterinarians administered Benadryl instead of antivenin.

Zoo curator Jennie McNary said using Benadryl is not unusual, because antivenin can be dangerous for animals.

"There is a problem with antivenin being a horse serum, that there might be an allergic reaction to it that could be as deadly as the snake bite itself," McNary said. "So to just go ahead and do that, not knowing how the chimp is going to react, it's not the thing that you should just jump in to do."

McNary said quickly isolated the chimp, which was walking uneasily and trembling.

Zoo officials came under fire earlier this summer when Gita, a 48-year-old Asian elephant, died. Zoo officials acknowledged that Gita was spotted in a "down" position hours before action was taken.

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