Choomba

Taken from the wild, she arrived at Yerkes Primate Center before finding a long‑term home at Zoo Atlanta. The move to Atlanta on 18 May 1988 marked the beginning of a remarkable three‑decade tenure, during which keepers watched her age with the dignity of a true matriarch. Her life spanned the full breadth of the western lowland gorilla’s plight, a subspecies listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. At 59 years, she became one of the longest‑lived members of her kind in captivity. On 13 January 2022, caretakers made the difficult decision to end her suffering, and she was euthanized at Zoo Atlanta.