Pierre Pont (Jack)

Western lowland gorillas face extinction in the wild, with fewer than 100,000 left across their native range in Central Africa. Pierre Pont, known as Jack, represents hope for his critically endangered subspecies through managed breeding programs. Born at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo on January 6, 2001, he came into the world as the offspring of Julia and Zuri.

His early years unfolded in the Bronx, where he learned essential social behaviors from his mother and troop. Like all young gorillas, Jack would have spent considerable time clinging to Julia’s back and observing the complex dynamics of gorilla society. These formative experiences shape how captive-born gorillas later interact within their groups.

December 2006 marked a major transition when Jack moved from New York to New Mexico at nearly six years old. The ABQ BioPark became his new home, where he has lived for over seventeen years. Now in his early twenties, he has matured from a dependent youngster into an adult male of this magnificent but vulnerable species.