JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Bulera, the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens’ beloved 35-year-old female western lowland gorilla, was the first to die.
Then bonobo brothers Jumanji, 38, and Jenga, 13, and two more western lowland gorillas, Kevin, 3, and Oliver, 8, also succumbed to the highly contagious bacterial illness that spread through the zoo’s ape population in 2024.
The five deaths, according to spokeswoman Emily Long, devastated zoo staff, particularly the health and care teams who closely worked with the animals…