KARACHI: A 40-year-old female chimpanzee named Bibi has died at the Karachi Zoo after suffering from illness for several months.

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) official Daniyal Sial confirmed Bibi’s death, stating that the postmortem report indicated natural causes.

He added that the chimpanzee had been struggling with multiple age-related health complications for quite some time. “Bibi was around 40 years old and had been under treatment for various medical conditions,” he said.

According to a KMC spokesperson, Bibi was taken into custody in September 2000 during a joint operation by police and wildlife officials.

She was later handed over to the Karachi Zoo administration, where she spent the rest of her life.

Chimpanzees are listed as endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

They have already become extinct in four countries and continue to face severe threats in others due to illegal wildlife trade and habitat destruction.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), chimpanzees are included in Appendix I, which strictly prohibits their trade except for limited scientific purposes.