"Nkosi" a 21-year-old male Gorilla, was euthanized Tuesday afternoon (Sep. 03, 2013) following
more than a week of intense treatments and testing for an illness that has yet to be identified.
Update - Cause of death
as listed in the JRDavisGorillaStudBook records as menengitis
as listed in an article printed in the (NC) Asheboro Courier-Tribune as encephalitis:-
“A very rare parasite,” affecting the brain, has been identified as contributing to Nik’s untimely death from encephalitis.
N.C. Zoo Chief Veterinarian Dr. Mike Loomis said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first
detected the disease, which Nik died of, in 1986 and determined there have been 70 human deaths from it.
It’s also been found to have affected a handful of gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees.“It’s an extremely rare
disease,” Dr. Loomis said. "The rest of the gorilla troop has not shown any symptoms of the non-infectious illness.

Obituary:- http://www.nczoo.org/Newsroom.aspx?pageID=12643&CNM=News%20Archive&contentPage=true&desc=false&listingID=184

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