Lincoln Park Zoo’s Beloved Gorilla Matriarch, Bana, Has Died

Patty Wetli | March 28, 2024 4:22 pm

Bana was a great mother, Lincoln Park Zoo officials said. Here she's pictured with son Djeke in 2019. (Christopher Bijalba / Lincoln Park Zoo)

Lincoln Park Zoo is mourning the loss of Bana, the dominant female in the zoo’s western lowland gorilla family.

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The 29-year-old gorilla was diagnosed with congestive cardiac failure March 8 and bronchopneumonia a week later. Efforts by the zoo’s veterinarian staff to stabilize Bana were unsuccessful and after an “abrupt decline” March 26, the “difficult decision was made to euthanize her,” zoo officials said in a statement.

Members of the troop, including Bana’s son Djeke, were able to visit with her after her passing as they would do in the wild, the zoo said. Animal care staff will continue to monitor the troop’s behavior in the coming weeks.

The loss is also being felt at Brookfield Zoo, where Bana was born in 1995. She came to Lincoln Park Zoo in 2010.

That face. RIP, Bana: 1995-2024. (Grant Guimond / Lincoln Park Zoo)

Not long after her arrival at Lincoln Park, Bana was mated with the troop’s silverback Kwan, and gave birth to her first baby, a girl, in November 2011. Unfortunately, the infant died after just nine days.

Bana’s second daughter, named Patty, arrived in 2012. It took zoo staff a month to identify the baby’s sex, because Bana was cradling her newborn so closely, according to reports at the time. Son Djeke arrived in 2019. (Djeke remains at Lincoln Park Zoo but Patty was recently transferred to another zoo as part of the western lowland gorilla Species Survival Plan.)

“Bana has left an undeniable mark on the hearts of zoo staff, volunteers, and visitors, and played an important role in her own troop,” said Jill Moyse, curator of primates. “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.”

Western lowland gorillas are considered critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. As well as caring for the troop in Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo researchers also monitor gorilla health and behavior in the Republic of Congo through the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project.

"Bana has left an undeniable mark on the hearts of zoo staff, volunteers, and visitors, and played an important role in her own troop,” said Jill Moyse, curator of primates. (Jesse Leinwand / Lincoln Park Zoo)