'I loved every minute of it.' Jungle Island's orangutan mom dies after battle with ALS

May 1—If you asked Linda Jacobs how many children she had, she would say seven.

Two are human. The other five are the orangutans that once called Jungle Island home.

"I have more pictures of orangutans on my walls, than I do humans," she said in an October interview.

Jacobs, who spent decades raising and caring for the Great Apes at the theme park and was affectionately known as the orangutan mom, died Thursday after a year-long battle with ALS. She was 66.

"Linda was one of the most dedicated people I have ever met," said Bern Levine, the former Jungle Island owner. "Every day of her rich yet short life, she worked tirelessly to champion the health, well-being and conservation of orangutans. When it came to her orangutan family, Linda was always there. From their birthdays to their sick days, from the holidays to the hurricanes, Linda truly served as a mother figure."

Jacobs said in October that caring for the orangutans was a "true privilege."

"I loved every minute of it," she said. "There was never a day that I didn't find something they did fascinating or heartwarming or hilarious. They were just a joy to be with."

Orangutans moved to sanctuary in Central Florida

About a month before the interview, Jungle Island, which is undergoing a transformation into an eco-adventure park, sent its orangutans to the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula in Central Florida. Jacobs called the sanctuary "orangutan heaven."

Jacobs, whose speech began to decline as her ALS progressed, said she could rest easy knowing her children were taken care of.

"I know they have a home for life," she said, fighting back tears. "That was something I couldn't give them. So while I miss having them just a couple miles away, I am eternally grateful that they have the love and the quality care that they deserve."

Fascination with great apes

Jacobs, who was born Aug. 15, 1954, in Pittsburgh, said she always had a fascination with Great Apes, orangutans in particular.

She was working in the insurance business and raising her children when she heard about a volunteer program at what was then Parrot Jungle in Pinecrest, predecessor to Jungle Island, in the late 1990s.

"When I had the opportunity to quit working for pay and start working for love, I jumped at it," she said.

What began as a one-day-a-week volunteer gig, turned into six days a week, eight hours a day. She would bottle-feed them when they were babies, paint with them so they weren't bored and "cleaned a lot of poop."

Her first real relationship with an orangutan was Millie, who was born with cerebral palsy. Her mother refused to care for, so Jacobs stepped in. Millie lived to be 3 and a half.

A few years later, twins Peanut and Pumpkin were born. Their mother couldn't produce enough milk to feed them. The keepers decided the best move was to transfer the mother to another zoo, and care for them as a mother would.

Linda took them home with her five days a week. She bottle-fed them, rocked them until they fell asleep and bathed them. She put cribs with covers in her and her husband's bedroom.

Both orangutans thrived at the park, but in 2012 Peanut's behavior changed. Instead of being gregarious, she became lethargic and withdrawn. After tests and visits from veterinarians, they learned Peanut had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She battled the disease and served as a symbol of strength for those battling cancer.

Groups including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society would visit the cancer survivor. About a year ago, Peanut's behavior changed again. This time it was kidney disease. Peanut died in early March at age 17.

Jacobs' work with the orangutans will always be a part of Jungle Island's history.

"Linda made it her life's mission to champion and care for the orangutans," said Curtis Crider, Jungle Island president and managing director. "She will be sorely missed by her Jungle Island family."

Her ALS diagnosis

Jacobs said she remembers the day she realized something was really wrong.

She was walking from the orangutan enclosure to the parking lot and "it felt like I was climbing Mount Everest."

She said she called in immediately and said she was taking two weeks off to just stay in bed.

The diagnosis came a short time later.

"When you are given a diagnosis of something like ALS, which is a vicious, vicious disease that has no cure, you immediately think of your family and in my case, my family includes my orangutans," she said. "And I need to be at peace knowing they will be cared for after I am gone."

Ryan Jacobs said he knows his mother will be taken care of.

"I have no doubt her three redheads that passed before her, grabbed her soul and they're off on some new adventure," he said. "I bet they are having a blast."

Linda is survived by her husband, Bill, son, Ryan, and daughter, Molly, and five orangutans who are living at the Center for Great Apes: Harry, Sinbad, Pumpkin, Connie and Hanna.

In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made in her name to the Center for Great Apes and ALS research.

A celebration of Linda's life will be held in the summer at Jungle Island.

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