Houston Zoo Mourns the Loss of Female Gorilla

Last week, we said goodbye to our elderly western lowland gorilla, Binti. We made the difficult decision to euthanize the 49-year-old due to her declining quality of life. Thank you to her keepers who worked so hard to make her years here as good as they could possibly be.

Binti, also known as B or Queen B by keepers, was loved by all who met her. She played a key role in the family, by being the link between everyone. She could be seen sitting near Holli or Angel and sometimes playing with Mike.

In true queen fashion, she was sassy but laid back, and did things on her own time. She definitely knew how to teach her keepers the meaning of patience but made up for it with her enthusiastic food grumbles. Many times, when she was in the dayroom, and keepers were in the keeper office, she would come up to the mesh and sit and stare, in hopes of getting some sneaky snacks. Sometimes she would prevail, and other times she would not, and just be admired for her beauty.

She will be dearly missed by her family group and keepers.