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Officials at Metro announced this morning that the director and chief veterinarian at the Oregon Zoo were fired for negligence in the death of a 20-year-old orangutan.
The Sumatran orangutan, Kutai, died in January after a monthlong illness. Metro, the regional planning agency that oversees the zoo, says that it investigated his death and found "lapses in procedures and protocols were tolerated."
The Oregonian first reported the Metro announcement this morning.
Metro quietly announced Monday that zoo director Kim Smith and chief veterinarian Mitch Finnegan were out of zoo management.
Here's Metro's full statement, released at 9 am today.
WWeek 2015