Chimp that died in fall from tree at Kansas City Zoo was born in Wichita

A chimpanzee that was born in Wichita died at another zoo this week.

Bahati, a 31-year-old male, fell from a tree Wednesday morning at the Kansas City Zoo.

Chimpanzees in the exhibit were fighting and skirmishing that morning, which isn’t unusual, said Sean Putney, senior director of zoological operations, in a video message posted on Facebook.

“On this occasion, he (Bahati) was trying to jump by some of the other ones while he was up in the tree, grabbed a hold of a branch and fell down to the ground,” Putney said.

Bahati died from internal injuries shortly after the fall.

“When you have 12 chimps out here and climbing trees sometimes 30, 40, 50 feet in the air, the reality is a slip, a jump, holding onto a wrong branch, can lead to tragedy,” Putney added.

Bahati was born at the Sedgwick County Zoo in 1986. He came to Kansas City in February from Tampa as part of the Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan, according to the Kansas City Star.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Chimp that died in fall from tree at Kansas City Zoo was born in Wichita."