ASHA Born: 12/2002 at the Gladys Porter Zoo, came to Cincinnati in October 2011 Asha is mostly dark with black hair and is larger than most female gorillas. Asha is self assured and tries to be the dominant female. She is buddies with Anju. Asha is very outgoing and moves around the entire exhibit.
CHEWIE Born: 9/1995 at the Cincinnati Zoo; Parents: Chaka and Muke s Chewie is best identified by her rounder head in comparison to other females. She has lots of rings and wrinkles around eyes and nose and has lots of black in hair. Chewie was born here at the Cincinnati Zoo. She is a very confident female and is the dominant female in whatever group she is in. Chewie still likes to play in the water and in the moat.
JOMO Born: 7/1991 at the Toronto Zoo, came to Cincinnati in July 2005. Jomo s most distinguishing feature is his large cone-like head. His large size and silver colored back make him easy to recongnize. Jomo displays a typical dominant silverback personality. He came to Cincinnati from the Toronto Zoo in 2005 and has been a favorite of the ladies ever since. Jomo likes to get silly. He plays with the kids and adults in the group, and paticularly wrestles with Asha.
MARA Born: 8/1995 at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Parents: Mlinzi and Chaka Mara can be identified by her thick sideburns. She is smaller than other females with a lanky, thin body. Mara was born here at the Cincinnati Zoo, her mom is Mlinzi. Mara is definitely a tough girl. She isn t the most dominate female but can hold her own. She spends a lot of time by herself.
M LINZI Born: 12/1982 at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden Parents: Ramses and Amani Mlinzi was born here at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1982. She has been a great mother to her daughter Mara and is now a wonderful surrogate mother to Gladys.
Mshindi Birth date: 10/17/1987 Physical description: Mshindi is a smaller silverback weighing 340lbs. He has a distinct musty smell to him that is very different from Jomo s smell. Mshindi also has a rounder sagittal crest. Behavioral notes: Overall Mshindi is a pretty laid back, quiet Silverback. But, just like any average adult male he has Silverback tendencies engrained in him. He seems to enjoy watching whatever is going on around him.
SAMANTHA Born: 1/1970 at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Parents: King Tut and Penelope Samantha is best identified from her graying hair. Samantha is the oldest gorilla in the collection and is in her mid-forties. She was born here at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1970. She might be the oldest, but she is definitely a dominate personality in her troop. She lets no one else push her around. She will suck her thumb if she is anticipating something or gets nervous. She likes to hang out in the background of the exhibit.
GLADYS Gladys was born on 1/29/2013 at Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas. She came to our Zoo in February 2013. Rejected by her mother, Gladys was transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo and was initially being taken care of by human surrogates behind the scenes. She likes to hang out in the background of the exhibit. Since June of 2013, Gladys has been slowly introduced to four adult female gorillas. The first, M Linzi, quickly stepped up and became Gladys surrogate mom. Glady s is a well adjusted member of the whole gorilla family.
MONDIKA Mondika was born on 8/4/2014 She is the 49th baby gorilla born at the Cincinnati Zoo. Her mother, Asha, is a first time mother. She was raised in a family group seeing younger siblings with their parents. Asha has been a great mother, helped by having Gladys, who was introduced to her surrogate mother Mlinzi, living in the same group with Asha, gave Asha a refresher course in infant care. The Cincinnati Zoo is now home to ten Western Lowland gorillas, including the father, silverback Jomo, and the rest of his family Samantha, M Linzi, Anju, and Gladys. This is Jomo s second baby, his first being Bakari, a male gorilla that was born on August 13, 2006. Asha is Gladys s half sister sharing the same father, Moja. This birth will make Gladys the baby s aunt! Aunt Gladys!
ELLE Elle was born on 8/25/15. She is the 50th gorilla born at the Cincinnati Zoo. Her mother, Anju, is a first time mother. She was raised in a family group seeing younger siblings with their parents. Anju has been a great mother. Elle is starting to play with Glay s and Mona.
How can you help gorillas! Recycle your cell phone Coltan is a mineral needed to make your cell phone work. The problem is coltan is mined where gorillas live in the wild. By recycling your old cell phone you can reduce the need to take coltan out of the forest, and also recycle many other items as well. Map of the Congo where coltan is mined