**A** chimpanzee at San Francisco Zoo and Gardens who was said to be one of the oldest in the United States died this week at the age of 55.
The chimpanzee, named Maggie, was diagnosed with lymphoma and had been in palliative care for the last few months. She was the fifth oldest chimp in the country, according to a press release sent Wednesday from the zoo.
“Maggie was a true matriarch in every sense of the word, often ensuring harmony within the chimpanzee troop,” said San Francisco Zoo and Garden’s CEO and executive director, Tanya Peterson.
“Although she allowed the males to think they were the alpha, Maggie would step in when needed, asserting her leadership with strength and grace,” Peterson said in the zoo’s press release.
The death comes about six weeks after the death of another of the zoo’s great apes, a mountain gorilla named [Oscar Jonesy](https://localnewsmatters.org/2025/02/08/sf-zoo-gorilla-dies-after-medical-procedure-activist-groups-say-blame-lies-in-leadership/). While that death was attributed to complications during surgery that required anesthesia, Maggie was older than chimpanzees generally live in captivity or the wild.
According to a 2017 Yale study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Human Evolution, chimps in the wild can have an average lifespan of 33 years.
Female chimps in captivity have an average lifespan of about 40 years, according to the nonprofit advocacy organization Project Chimps.
The zoo has drawn criticism in the past for its animal care from groups including SF Zoo Watch. An organizer with the group, Justin Barker, said the conditions Maggie lived in before an expansion of her habitat in 2019 were inadequate.
“She spent most of her life at San Francisco Zoo on a tiny island that did not meet her needs,” Barker said.
The zoo’s chimpanzee troop now consists of two males and three females, according to its website. That would put it below the number recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the National Institutes of Health, which recommend at least seven chimpanzees be kept together in captivity, according to a 2019 article published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Primatology.
Maggie came to the zoo in 1970 at the age of 2, according to the zoo’s press release.
Dominick Dorsa, San Francisco Zoo’s executive vice president of animal care, said Maggie had a penchant for making beautiful nests in her enclosure.
“One of Maggie’s favorite pastimes was creating elaborate nests from blankets, always selecting the most colorful ones. This simple joy provided her with comfort, and it was a beautiful reminder of the softer side of her personality,” Dorsa said.
Peterson, the zoo’s director, said the zoo would make a contribution to Jane Goodall’s advocacy institution to honor Maggie’s death.