Binny, was brought to Nandankanan Zoo from Pune's Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park on November 20, 2003.

A 41-year-old orangutan at Odisha's Nandankanan Zoological Park died on Wednesday following a prolonged illness.

''Binny'', the country's lone orangutan passed away around 9:40 pm on Wednesday due to old-age related ailments followed by respiratory tract infection, according to sources.

"Since the last three days, she was suffering from cold and old age related respiratory tract issues. Accordingly, treatment was going on," sources said.

The great ape was under treatment for the last one year by experts from the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry OUAT who were under constant advice of the Orangutan experts from UK and Singapore.

A postmortem is scheduled tomorrow to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Binny, was brought to Nandankanan Zoo from Pune's Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park on November 20, 2003, when she was 25.

Orangutans are one of the world''s three extant species of great apes and are native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Orangutans are currently found only in the rain forests of Borneo and Sumatra.

Considered to be among the most intelligent primates, orangutans can live up to 45 years in the wild and even more in zoos, according to experts.