Lena (Xerna)

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 remaining across their African range. Lena was born at Royal Rotterdam Zoological Gardens in August 1982, the daughter of Xara and Ernst. Her subspecies carries the scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla and holds Critically Endangered status under IUCN classifications.

At just six years old, she transferred to Dublin Zoo, where she would spend the majority of her life. The move from Rotterdam to Ireland marked the beginning of a long residency that would span more than three decades. She became part of Dublin’s gorilla community during the late 1980s.

Captive-born gorillas like Lena represent important genetic diversity within managed populations of this endangered subspecies. Her lineage traces back through carefully documented breeding programs designed to maintain healthy gorilla groups in zoos across Europe. She lived at Dublin Zoo until August 2026, just weeks before what would have been her 44th birthday.