N'Aika

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 remaining across their African range. N’Aika represents hope for her critically endangered subspecies through managed breeding programs in European zoos. Born at Burgers’ Zoo on February 1, 2005, she is the daughter of N’gayla and Bauwi.

Captive-born gorillas like N’Aika grow up learning essential social behaviors from their mothers and troop members. She spent the first twenty years of her life at Burgers’ Zoo before making the transition to Amsterdam’s Natura Artis Magistra in September 2025.

At nearly twenty years old, she has reached full maturity as a female western lowland gorilla. Her species classification, Gorilla gorilla gorilla, reflects the taxonomic precision needed to track these endangered populations across international breeding programs.