UK Edition
Choppers, the last PG Tips chimp, dies aged 48
The last chimpanzee from the original PG Tips adverts has died at the age of 48.
Choppers, who wore a grey wig to play Ada in the commercials, was put to sleep yesterday by vets, after she had started to show signs of heart and liver failure.
She lived at Twycross Zoo, who said in a statement she was "much-loved" and will be "sadly missed by all staff".
Choppers was brought to the zoo after being rescued from poachers in Liberia.
After training, she was dressed up alongside other chimpanzees and performed in adverts, as well as children's shows like Tiswas from the 1960s to the 1980s.
However, two years ago the zoo admitted it was wrong for chimpanzees to be treated in this way, and Choppers was "mixed up" as a result.
"It's not a good start in life to be treated like a human because they don't learn ape behaviour," said the zoo's chief executive Sharon Redrobe, at the time.
"They would recognise regular visitors and effectively come over and say hello. Chimps should ignore you," said the zoo's head of life sciences, Dr Charlotte Macdonald.
However, she "integrated nicely" with other chimps "in her twilight years," said Ms Redrobe.