ST. LOUIS (KBSI) — A 21-year-old western lowland gorilla at the Saint Louis Zoo has moved to another Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo in central Florida to begin the next chapter of his life as part of a conservation breeding program.
Bakari’s transfer was recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan, which manages a genetically healthy population of the critically endangered species in North American accredited zoos.
Bakari arrived at the Saint Louis Zoo in 2011 from Brookfield Zoo, where he was born in 2005. Since then, he has lived with a bachelor gorilla troop at Jungle of the Apes. Bachelor troops, made up of adult and young male gorillas, help prepare silverbacks to one day lead their own family groups…