World's 4th Oldest Gorilla Dies, Zoo Atlanta Confirms

ATLANTA, GA — The world's fourth oldest gorilla recently passed away. Choomba, a female western lowland gorilla, died Jan. 13 at age 59, Zoo Atlanta confirmed. She was the second-oldest gorilla at the zoo.

According to the zoo, its animal care and veterinary teams had been monitoring Choomba closely in recent days following a marked decline in her physical condition due to advanced arthritis and other age-related complications.

"Given her poor prognosis and with concern for her comfort and quality of life, the teams made the extremely difficult decision to euthanize her," zoo officials said in a news release.

Choomba was one of the founding members of the gorilla population at Zoo Atlanta, having arrived at the Zoo in the 1980s at the time of the opening of the landmark Ford African Rain Forest.

Pictured above: Choomba

“This is an extremely difficult day for Zoo Atlanta and most particularly for Choomba’s care team, who knew her intimately and saw and cared for her daily with the greatest dedication. We commend the truly valiant efforts of our Gorilla and Veterinary Teams to help Choomba, from supportive care and laser therapy for her arthritis, to forward-thinking updates to the spaces used by our geriatric gorillas,” said Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Vice President of Collections and Conservation.

“Choomba leaves a tremendous legacy at Zoo Atlanta, in the zoological gorilla population in North America, and in the hearts of those who knew her best," she continued.

Gorillas are considered geriatric after the age of about 40. In recent years, Choomba had been living in a senior social group with Ozzie, who at age 61 is the world’s oldest living male gorilla; daughter Machi, 45; and female Kuchi, 37.

A necropsy, or the non-human equivalent of an autopsy, will be performed through the soo’s partnership with the University of Georgia Zoo and Exotic Animal Pathology Service in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Preliminary results should be available in several weeks.

To date, 24 gorillas have been born at Zoo Atlanta. According to Zoo Atlanta, its influenced industry-wide improvements in the care of gorillas in zoos, as well as enhanced understanding of gorilla biology, with more than 100 published papers on maternal care, reproduction, social behavior and cognition.