We are deeply saddened to announce the recent passing of mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) Guillermo. Many of you may know from our previous blog post, Meet mongoose lemur Guillermo, that he was undergoing treatment for glaucoma. This condition is caused by abnormally high pressure within the eye that often results in damage to the optic nerve, causing blindness.
While Guillermo’s glaucoma treatment was progressing well, his overall health took a sudden and severe turn and staff made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize him. His necropsy revealed his cause of death to be congestive heart failure.
Though he was a recent addition to LCF, arriving in May 2018 from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Guillermo was a cherished part of our lemur colony. He was an extremely sweet old man and had little trouble slipping into the hearts of every single staff member.
Guillermo not only made a lasting impression on our staff, he also made several friends among our lemur colony:
Medella, ring-tailed lemur – She immediately decided to befriend Guillermo upon his arrival at LCF and subsequent introduction to her group.
Ikoto, Sanford’s brown lemur – Ikoto lived in a bachelor pair with Guillermo for nine months before they were each paired up with a female mongoose lemur.
Rosalita, mongoose lemur – She was Guillermo’s partner for his last nine months.
Guillermo is survived by his twin daughters Leena (LCF) and Dahlia (St. Louis Zoo), and six grandchildren (and counting).
Please keep Guillermo’s care team, who did all they could to care for Guillermo in his golden years and especially recently, in your thoughts and hearts during this difficult time.