Said Carol M. Barth, of Parkville, who worked with Ms. Wilson at the then-Baltimore Zoo from 1973 to 1991: “Mary brought love, skill and passion to her work with the animals at the zoo.

Arthur R. Watson, who headed the zoo from 1948 to 1980, hired Ms. Wilson, whose only qualifications, The Sun reported in 1996, were a “willingness to work hard and a love of animals.

In the mid-1960s, a baby gorilla named Sylvia, who was less than a year old, came to the zoo from the Congo, and because she had no mother, it fell to Ms. Wilson to assume that role.

Ms. Wilson eventually taught Sylvia how to use a spoon with which she could feed herself.As Sylvia grew, it became apparent that Ms. Wilson could no longer hold her, and by 1981, the zoo decided it lacked the proper facilities for gorillas, so Sylvia and Hercules, the other gorilla at the zoo, were sent to the National Zoo in Washington.Ms.

“They said it was because of how I raised her that she was so good with that youngster,” Ms. Wilson told The Sun.One time when Ms. Wilson went on vacation, she asked zoo officials whether she could take home and care for a baby baboon, because it was used to her and she feared an unfamiliar handler might upset the infant.Another time, zoo officials had to ask Ms. Wilson to stop scuffling with a 2-year-old jaguar because the animal had grown large enough to be considered dangerous.Her own pet preference at home was dogs.Ms.