30 June 2023
Topeka (KSNT) — Cleo, a 16-year-old black-and-white ruffed female lemur at the Topeka Zoo, died following complications over the weekend, the Zoo announced on its Facebook page today.
“Cleo was a smart and sassy lemur who stole the hearts of many,” Animal Curator Wrylie Guffey said in the Facebook post. “She will be sorely missed,”
The Topeka Zoo and Conservatory said Cleo started experiencing seizures on Saturday, June 24. After vet staff took Cleo to the hospital, an examination found the lemur’s liver values were abnormal, and X-rays also showed that there were signs of potential infection in her lungs.
While Cleo’s condition improved at first following treatment, she got worse over the next few days, leading the Zoo to make the “difficult yet humane decision” to euthanize her.
A necropsy showed tumors in and on Cleo’s liver, as well as nodules in her lungs. The Topeka Zoo says it will learn more about what the necropsy means after further testing.
Sorabe, the Topeka Zoo’s male lemur, will not be visible to the public while the Zoo figures out what is best for him.
Cleo was born in 2007 at the Philadelphia Zoo and joined the Topeka Zoo in 2009. Sorabe joined her in 2017, and they had a daughter, Avana, in 2020. Avana was transferred to the Greenville Zoo in 2022.
The Topeka Zoo says black-and-white ruffed lemurs are a critically endangered species of lemur found solely in Madagascar. They live in small familial groups that make up larger communities. They have a median life expectancy of 18 years.