Celebrating Charles The Western Lowland Gorilla 🦍

Today we celebrate 52 years of Charles 🦍
Charles has been an iconic member of our gorilla troop and an integral part of the Zoo since 1974 💚He is one of the oldest gorillas in North America, and is one of only two founding males left in the North American SSP, siring over 10 offspring, the last of whom is named “Charlie” in his honour.
Making it to over half a century is always a wonderful milestone but is especially significant when we take into account the critically endangered status of Western Lowland gorillas in the wild, who typically live to 30 to 40 years of age. The species continues to decline at an annual rate of 2.7% mostly due to poaching for bushmeat, disease, and habitat loss and degradation. Because of poaching and disease, the gorilla’s numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20 to 25 years.
As one of our oldest residents here at the Zoo and arriving ahead of our opening in 1974, his care has evolved with his age as he lives out his golden years with us. Although an aging animal population comes with its challenges at times, our dedicated Wildlife Care team makes the necessary adjustments and accommodations to ensure top-notch quality care each and every day for our geriatric animals, keeping them healthy, comfortable and allowing them to often live longer and healthier lives than they could in their wild habitats.
What can you get Charles for his birthday?
🦍Donate your old cell phones to the Zoo’s Phone Apes Program: www.torontozoo.com/tz/phoneapes. Drop your old phones off on your next visit to the Zoo, and we will provide 100% landfill-free recycling. By recycling your old phones, elements used to create cell phones can be re-used which reduces the demand to mine in the Congo, the home to critically endangered lowland gorillas.
🦍 Adopt a Western lowland gorilla through the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy Adopt an Animal program: www.tzwcadopt.ca/
🦍 You can also support critically endangered Western Lowland gorillas in the wild by donating to the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy’s ‘Wilding Endangered Species Preservation Fund’: www.wildlifeconservancy.ca/donate
Charles has become a key member of our Zoo family and Zoo guests alike and we are grateful for each day we have with this very special silverback 💚 Please join our Zoo family in wishing Charles the happiest of birthdays and share your Charles memories with us below.