Benga

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 left across their African range. Born at Lincoln Park Zoo in April 1971, Benga entered the world as the daughter of Helen and Kisoro during an era when captive breeding programs were just beginning to understand great ape management.

She spent over two decades at her birth facility before transferring to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1997. The move came during her prime adult years, when she was 26 years old. At her new home in Florida, she would spend the next two decades as part of the park’s gorilla program.

Her subspecies carries the scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla and holds Critically Endangered status under IUCN classifications. Benga lived to be 46 years old, passing away in April 2017 just two days after her birthday. Her lifespan exceeded typical expectations for gorillas both in the wild and in human care, where females often live into their thirties or early forties.