Azizi

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 left across their African range. Azizi represents one of the captive-born females helping maintain genetic diversity in managed populations. Her parents, Alvila and Memba, produced her at San Diego Zoo in February 1997.

She spent her first sixteen years in California before making the cross-country move to Florida in 2013. Disney’s Animal Kingdom has been her home for over a decade now. The transition from San Diego’s established gorilla program to Disney’s facility marked a significant chapter in her life.

As a member of the critically endangered subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla, she contributes to conservation efforts through managed breeding programs. Her captive-born status makes her part of a carefully tracked population that zoos coordinate internationally. At twenty-seven years old, she has lived through multiple phases of gorilla conservation strategy.