By Botho Molosankwe
Lisa the gorilla has died. The 35-year-old "widow"of the famous crime buster Max leaves behind her 19-year-old "husband" Makoko, who was imported from Germany when Max - who was 34 - died in his sleep two years ago.
Lisa died on the operating table of the Johannesburg Zoo's animal hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
She had undergone an emergency operation to remove a lump the size of a tennis ball from her left armpit.
Before the surgery, one of the operating doctors, Michelle Barrows said that after the lump was removed, it would be sent to a laboratory for a histology test to determine whether or not it was cancerous.
The operation lasted two- and-a-half hours but unfortunately Lisa did not make it, said Johannesburg Zoo's chief executive officer Jenny Gray.
"The doctors had removed the lump, closed the wound and were waiting for her to recover from the anaesthetic when she stopped breathing.
"It is very sad and the entire staff has taken the news badly," she said.
A postmortem will be held to establish the cause of death.