Nzinga

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 left across their African range. Nzinga represents one of the captive-born males helping sustain the managed population of this critically endangered subspecies. Born to parents Mary and Moja at Gladys Porter Zoo in May 1998, he spent the first eighteen years of his life in Texas.

In July 2016, he made the move to Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens, where he has lived for nearly eight years. The transfer marked a significant change for an adult male who had known only one home since birth. At twenty-six years old, he has reached full maturity as a silverback.

His subspecies, Gorilla gorilla gorilla, carries the IUCN’s most urgent conservation classification. Every captive-born gorilla like Nzinga contributes to the genetic diversity needed for long-term species survival. He continues to be part of the managed breeding program that works to maintain healthy gorilla populations in zoos worldwide.