Wellington Zoo has revealed one of its chimpanzees died nearly a week after a deep cut was discovered on its leg.

Nine-year-old male Beni died last Friday.

"We discovered a deep cut on Beni's leg last Saturday and performed emergency surgery," primates team leader Harmony Wallace said in a statement.

The primate had lost a lot of blood and had shown some signs of recovery. However, following further treatment on the Friday, Beni did not recover from the anaesthetic.

Beni was born at Wellington Zoo.

"Beni had a very cheeky personality and he made it easy for his carers, other Zoo staff and our visitors to fall in love with him," Ms Wallace said.

"He will be sorely missed by all of us and we have all been very saddened by his death."

Before Beni's death, Wellington Zoo had a troop of 11 chimpanzees, one of the largest in Australasia.