Beloved Bronx Zoo Gorilla, Ntondo, Dies From 'Acute Cardiac Event'

NEW YORK CITY — The Bronx Zoo on Tuesday announced that a beloved western lowland gorilla died over the weekend at 32.

Ntondo, widely known to television audiences and zoo visitors through Animal Planet’s docuseries THE ZOO, died from an acute cardiac event, the zoo said.

His story was featured in the first episode of the series which premiered in 2017. Diagnostic testing on Ntondo confirmed glaucoma, a condition that ultimately left him blind.

Despite his vision loss, he was able to maintain his role as a silverback to a group of females in the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest. Even though he was blind, Ntondo remained patient, confident and able to navigate complex social situations with the assuredness of an experienced silverback.

Ntondo was born on Feb. 28, 1993, at the Calgary Zoo, and he first arrived at the Bronx Zoo in 2014 as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program designed to enhance the genetic diversity and demographic stability of the AZA’s gorilla population.

The Bronx Zoo is home to 12 gorillas, and 53 gorillas have been born at the Bronx Zoo since 1972.