The Rolling Hills Zoo near Salina says a 40-year-old orangutan died while he was being prepared for surgery.
The Salina Journal reports the orangutan, named Clyde, was scheduled for surgery Wednesday to repair a condition that causes swelling and discharge in the throat.
Linda Henderson, development and marketing director at the zoo, says zoo veterinarians with extensive experience in treating orangutans were prepared to perform the surgery when complications arose.
She says Clyde was a zoo favorite and had outlived his life expectancy of 28 years.
Clyde was born in 1976 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He came to Rolling Hills in 2011 from the San Diego Zoo.
Kansas State University will perform a necropsy to affirm the cause of death.
