CHICAGO — Bana, a popular gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo, has died, the zoo announced Thursday.
Bana was 29. She was diagnosed with heart failure in early March, then had bronchopneumonia. Her condition declined, and her full recovery was not possible, so the zoo euthanized her Tuesday, according to a news release.
Bana was born in 1995 at Brookfield Zoo and came to Lincoln Park in 2010. She became the dominant female in the zoo’s gorilla troop, which includes her son, Djeke, according to the zoo.
Bana became known for actively participating in the zoo’s cognitive touch screen program — “often [making] sure she could go first,” according to the zoo.
The other gorillas were able to view Bana’s body, as they would do in the wild, according to the zoo.
“Bana has left an undeniable mark on the hearts of zoo staff, volunteers, and visitors, and played an important role in her own troop,” Curator of Primates Jill Moyse said in the news release. “Bana was not only a great mother, but she was very tolerant of her youngsters and other youngsters in the group playing on top of her. She loved spending time in the outside yard and sometimes could be seen foraging out there by herself.”
Bana was a western lowland gorilla, which is a critically endangered species, according to the zoo.
Such gorillas can live to be 35 in the wild and 55 in zoos, according to the Philadelphia Zoo.
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