Binga

Binga represents one of the captive-born males helping maintain genetic diversity in managed populations worldwide. His parents, Mamitu and N’gola, produced him at Zoo Zurich in December 2001.

For the first eight years of his life, he remained with his natal group in Switzerland. That changed in January 2010 when he made the journey to South Africa’s National Zoological Gardens. The transfer occurred when he was just over eight years old — still a juvenile but approaching the age when young male gorillas naturally begin to separate from their mothers.

Now over two decades old, he has spent more than half his life at the Pretoria facility. His subspecies carries the scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla and holds Critically Endangered status according to the IUCN. Each captive-born gorilla like Binga contributes to conservation efforts for a species under severe pressure from habitat loss and hunting across central and western Africa.