Orangutan, believed oldest in world, dies

By Times Wires
Published December 31, 2007

MIAMI

Necropsy results show a 55-year-old Sumatran orangutan, believed to be the world's oldest, choked to death, a zoo spokesman said Sunday. Nonja suffered a brain hemorrhage that made her pass out and vomit. She choked on the vomit and was found dead Saturday, Miami Metro Zoo spokesman Ron Magill said. Nonja was born on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has lived in Miami since 1983. Despite her age, Nonja was in good health, Magill said. A typical life span for Sumatran orangutans is 40 to 50 years. Further testing will determine what caused the brain hemorrhage. The results could take two weeks, Magill said. "Everybody's very sad, especially with an animal like an orangutan," Magill said. "You see a lot of yourself in these animals. The great apes are our closest relatives." The primate matriarch held her own very well, Magill said, "sometimes against orangutans twice her size." "She was really a grand old dame," Magill said. "She really was."

BRADENTON

Gunfire from car misses group

Gunfire erupted in a neighborhood east of Bradenton on Sunday afternoon as a person in a car opened fire on people standing around another car. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office says the shooting was possibly gang related. No one was hurt. Four or five shots were fired from a white, four-door Nissan as it approached a Mercedes at 3:47 p.m., the 22-year-old driver of the Mercedes told investigators. "One round hit the center of the driver's door," according to the Sheriff's Office. The owner of the Mercedes ducked behind the car and "other people in the area were (not) hit or injured. The suspect drove away at a normal speed northbound on Ninth Street East, and could not be located," Sgt. Sean Felton's report said.Witnesses said the shooter had the letters "E" and "S" tattooed on his neck, the report said.

ROYAL PALM BEACH

Woman on firenear church identified

A 24-year-old Sunrise woman is identified as the victim found on fire near a Palm Beach County church last week. The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office says a deputy discovered the body of Katie Ann Brunelle in a wooded area Dec. 23 and used his extinguisher to put her out. Authorities aren't saying much about the crime, including whether Brunelle was killed at the church or another location. She was found early Dec. 23, hours before parishioners at Our Lady Queen of the Apostles arrived for first Mass. State crime reports say the city of Royal Palm Beach hadn't had a murder in at least 10 years.

GROVELAND

Teen citrus worker hit by truck, dies

A 17-year-old working in a Lake County citrus grove is dead after being hit by a truck. Lake County Sheriff's Office spokesman John Herrell identified him as Edilberto Cardenas. Deputies said it was his first day on the job. He had stepped off a ladder with a bag of oranges when a truck hit him as it backed up Saturday morning. The driver told deputies he knew the boy was nearby, but he did not realize Cardenas was that close until he got out of the truck.

Times wires and the Bradenton Herald

[Last modified December 30, 2007, 23:25:15]