Noel

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 left across their African range. Born at Zoo La Palmyre on December 28, 1986, Noel entered the world as the son of Annette and Migger during a time when European breeding programs were still developing their expertise with great apes.

His early years involved considerable movement between institutions. After spending nearly five years at his birth zoo in France, he transferred to Zoo Frankfurt in August 1991. That stay proved brief — just six months later, he moved again to Münchener Tierpark Hellabrunn in Bavaria.

By November 1992, when he was not yet six years old, Noel arrived at Loro Parque in the Canary Islands. He has remained there for over three decades now, making it his longest and most stable home. The subspecies Gorilla gorilla gorilla carries the IUCN’s Critically Endangered designation, placing him among a population under severe pressure in Central and West Africa.