Bon Bon the chimp, lover of nail polish and new shoes, dead at 57

The Dallas Zoo is mourning the loss of its beloved chimp, Bon Bon, which died on Sunday after 57 years in captivity.

The chimp was the zoo's "oldest resident," zookeepers said, and she was the matriarch of its troop of chimpanzees.

Tami Jochen, the zoo's lead keeper, described her as "the queen bee of the group" in a 2013 interview with the Dallas Morning News.

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But it wasn't just fellow chimps the dearly departed primate looked after; Bon Bon loved people, and people, in turn, loved Bon Bon.

“She was everybody’s favorite. Since she had been here so long, staff members from all over the zoo had formed a special relationship with her,” primate supervisor Sarah Villarreal said in a blog post on the zoo's website. “People would always stop by to say hi. And she didn’t forget them. Chimps always remember.”

“People would always stop by to say hi. And she didn’t forget them. Chimps always remember.”

Bon Bon was particularly interested in some of life's simpler pleasures; nail polish and new shoes were among her favorite things to observe.

Staffers would occasionally show the chimp their painted toenails "and she would be fascinated," the zoo said.

Zookeepers even surprised Bon Bon for her 56th birthday by putting on a show painting their toes.

Bon Bon, they wrote, "watched in joy."

Born at the zoo in 1958, Bon Bon lived through five wars, the arrival of a rail and bus line at the zoo and a shift in management, from public ownership to a private corporation.

She was, the zoo said, among the first chimps to open the Primate Building in 1961 and, later, the Kimberly-Clark Chimpanzee Forest in 1997.

She was a popular selfie attraction in recent years.

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Bon Bon’s health "declined rapidly" in recent days and she was left nearly blind and immobile, the zoo said, before passing.

“Bon Bon’s quirky and charming personality will be missed by all of us. This is a huge loss to our family here,” mammal curator Keith Zdrojewski said on the website. “As the highest-ranking female in the troop, she still had an opinion in the group, and wasn’t afraid to voice it until the end.”

Surviving chimps were reportedly aware that their matriarch had passed, and mourned her "with hand touches and soft vocalizations." 

Afterwards, Bon Bon's 30-year-old daughter, Koko, remained with the body.

"The troop let her have that time. It was very unique," said Villarreal. "It was a very special moment."