8/4/2008
GARY DEMUTH

Cocoa, chimpanzee and popular attraction for the last 12 years at Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, died Saturday after a brief illness.
He was 37 years old.
Cocoa was the alpha male, or the leader, of a group of three other male chimpanzees living at the zoo, located six miles west of Salina. It is believed Cocoa developed an infection from a wound he received from one of the other chimps a few weeks ago, said Kathy Tolbert, director of Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, 625 N. Hedville.
“Chimps are volatile animals, and sometimes they have spats,” she said. “The infection stemmed from an older bite wound.”

Reporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.
For more on this story, see Tuesday's Salina Journal.