Amy McRary

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Zoo Knoxville chimpanzee Debbie, who lived at the park since 1976, was euthanized Tuesday after weeks of failing health.

Debbie, who would have been 46 Feb. 27, was diagnosed in late January with breast cancer and renal failure. She was the zoo's oldest chimp and through the years an important member of its intelligent, strong ape group.

Debbie was 5, wearing a dress and carrying a purse when she came to the zoo in 1976. As a young chimp, she'd been a pet for a family. She lived with a dog and macaw and ate meals at the family dinner table, said mammal curator Amy Flew.

But as the wild animal grew, she became strong and unmanageable. Debbie managed to adjust to life as a chimp, although it was tough for her at times. In later years, she was often identified by her gray back.

Tuesday afternoon, University of Tennessee veterinarians, the zookeepers who cared for Debbie and zoo officials made the decision to euthanize her.

“There was really no treatment for either” of her illnesses, said Zoo Knoxville Director of Animals, Conservation and Education Phil Colclough said. “We kept her comfortable, gave her all the things she liked, treat wise and company wise.”

Those treats, which aren’t standard ape fare, included Wendy’s’ Frosties and Hot Pockets. Some of the people who had cared for Debbie in the past, including Zoo President and CEO Lisa New, visited the sick animal. "We wanted her favorite faces around her to comfort her,” Colclough said.

"She was just a beloved friend for me," New said.

It was important for the park's other chimps to realize Debbie had died so keepers placed her body in an off-exhibit hallway near the other apes' enclose. "It's important in chimp culture to get her family an opportunity to see her. They were within three feet of her. It was important so they were not waiting for her to come back and be part of the family," Colclough said.

Zoo officials aren't certain how Debbie's death will change the dynamics of the ape's family life. Wednesday morning, however, young George was looking for her, keepers said.

Debbie has been at the zoo since the early days of the "modern" park and lived there more than 20 years before her last home there - the natural habitat Chimp Ridge - opened. She was given to the zoo just five years after Knoxville advertising executive, the late Guy Smith, volunteered to become acting director of the zoo for $1. Smith would be credited with saving the former Municipal Zoo that had been in such dire straits it had sold Smith a lion named Joshua in 1970.

Always smart but sometimes moody or unpredictable, Debbie became a dominant female for years among the zoo's chimpanzees. As other chimps arrived, were moved to other zoos or died, Debbie remained.

She gave birth to a daughter Kerry in 1987. When Kerry died unexpectedly in 2004, Debbie was depressed for months. But the female chimp Daisy arrived the next year, giving Debbie a new friend with whom she quickly bonded. When Daisy gave birth in 2008 to George, the first chimpanzee born at the zoo in 20 years, Debbie's loyalty and love extended to him. But in the years after her son's birth, Daisy took over Debbie's role as the group's dominating female.

Debbie was often the chimp mediator when new animals arrived or didn't get along. And she was a zookeepers' helper. When another chimp would become too stubborn to listen to keepers' directions to come indoors, they'd ask Debbie to go get the ape. Debbie would wrap her arms around the other chimp and lead it inside.

Although the dynamics of the group changed through the years, Debbie was always an extremely loyal chimp who never held a grudge, Flew said. She also was a hugger, wrapping her arms around the other apes. And while a grin from a chimp usually means they are afraid, Debbie really did smile, Flew said. She'd been taught to grin from the family that gave her to the zoo, and she never lost that ability to happily smile.