OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma City Zoo officials say a Western lowland gorilla has died.

The zoo announced Tuesday that 36-year-old Bom Bom died on Monday after going into cardiac arrest.

Officials say an animal autopsy was performed on the silverback gorilla and results indicated heart disease as the official cause of death. Bom Bom was diagnosed with heart disease in early 2010, and had been on heart medication.

Bom Bom was the leader of one of the Zoo's two troops of lowland gorillas at the Great EscApe exhibit. He arrived at the Oklahoma City Zoo in 2002 from the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans as part of a Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Officials say cardiac disease is a major cause of death for adult gorillas.

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