John Ball Zoo says goodbye to Sammy the chimp and Sunny the kelp gull

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — John Ball Zoo bid goodbye to two beloved animals this weekend — a chimpanzee and a kelp gull.

Sammy the chimpanzee turned 47 in June and had been at John Ball Zoo since 2009, when he came to Grand Rapids from the Kansas City Zoo. The last few years brought chronic health challenges for Sammy and his team, who provided daily support and watched his health, according to the zoo. Over the weekend, Sammy's "quality of life deteriorated significantly" and he was humanely euthanized, JBZ said.

Sunny was just a few years younger than Sammy. At 42, the kelp gull was one of two of his species at JBZ. Over the last week, Sunny had developed "serious health issues affecting his movement and coordination," according to the zoo. His care team worked to make him comfortabl