A baby orangutan who ‘captured the hearts of many’ has sadly died at the age of just 15 months.
Tonic was the first of his species to be born at Wingham Wildlife Park, near Canterbury, in July 2025.
But his health recently began to deteriorate and took a sudden turn.
Following his death on Tuesday, staff said watching Tonic grow had been a ‘privilege’.
A statement from the park said: ‘Tonic had been unwell throughout this week and was being closely monitored and cared for by our dedicated veterinary and keeper teams.
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‘Yesterday, he showed some really positive signs of improvement and gave us hope he was beginning to recover. Sadly, his condition took a sudden and severe turn today.
‘Our entire team is devastated that, despite all our care, attention, and dedication, he passed away.
‘Since his birth, Tonic has captured the hearts of so many.
‘As the first orangutan ever to be born at Wingham Wildlife Park, he was incredibly special to us all.
‘His magnificent hair, cheeky antics, and unmistakable little personality made him one of a kind.
‘Watching him grow and seeing the joy he brought to our team and visitors has been a privilege we will always treasure.
‘He leaves behind a huge hole in all our hearts, and he will be missed more than words can express.’
Keepers say their priority is now caring for Tonic’s mum, Awan.
She moved to the Rushden Road park, between Canterbury and Sandwich, in 2024 and quickly became besotted with male, Jin, who arrived from Dorset’s Monkey World in 2019.
Orangutans can weigh up to 200lbs and be more than one meter in height.
The omnivores are also the heaviest tree-dwelling animal and can live up to 50 years old.
But all three sub-species – Bornean, Sumatran, and Tapanuli orangutans – are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), there were more than 230,000 a century ago compared to about 110,000 today.
Reasons for their sharp population decline include loss of habitat, poaching and extreme weather conditions such as wildfires in their native south east Asia rainforests.
Tonic’s death comes less than a month after the park’s red panda, Mai, died aged 13.
She arrived at Wingham when she was just 10 months old, in April 2014.
However, her health began to deteriorate after she developed severe arthritis, while the loss of several teeth also made it increasingly difficult for her to eat.
The park’s veterinary and animal care teams therefore made the difficult decision to put her to sleep.