Colo (gorilla)

Colo

Colo, photographed March 5, 2009
Species	Western lowland gorilla
Sex	Female
Born	(1956-12-22) December 22, 1956 Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio, United States
Known for	Oldest gorilla in captivity in the world
https://columbuszoo.org/colo/

Colo (born December 22, 1956) is a western gorilla widely known as the first gorilla to be born in captivity anywhere in the world and as the oldest gorilla in captivity in the world. Colo was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to Millie Christina (mother) and Baron Macombo (father). She was briefly called Cuddles before a contest was held to officially name her. The contest was won by a Columbus native, Rita Cochren. Colo's name is derived from the place of her birth, Columbus, Ohio. Tomatoes are her favorite foods.^[1]

Life

Rejected at birth by her mother, zookeepers had to hand-raise Colo. They hand-raised her much like a human child, by dressing her in clothes and giving her bottle of formula. At the age of two years old, Colo was introduced to a 19-month-old male from Africa called Bongo. Colo and Bongo had three offspring, the first on February 1, 1968, Emmy, a female. Colo and Bongo had two more offspring: Oscar, born July 18, 1969, and Toni, on December 28, 1971.^[2]

On April 25, 1979, Columbus Zoo had its first third generation birth. The infant was named Cora, short for Central Ohio Rare Ape. On January 27, 1997, Colo's great-grandson Jontu was born. A birth at the Henry Doorly Zoo made Colo a great-great-grandmother in 2003.

Although Colo did not raise any of her own offspring, she reared her twin grandsons, Macombo II and Mosuba, from birth. Colo also acted as a guardian for her grandson, named J.J. after "Jungle" Jack Hanna with whom he shares a birthday. Since that time, there have been 12 gorilla offspring in the Columbus Zoo surrogacy program.

Colo has resided at the Columbus Zoo longer than any other animal in the zoo's collection. Colo celebrated her 50th birthday in 2006 with her keeper Gregory Moore with a chimps tea party. Colo and her progeny, four of which still reside at the Columbus Zoo, comprised almost one-third of Columbus Zoo's current gorilla collection as of 2007.

Colo is the oldest living gorilla in captivity, following the death of 55-year-old Jenny in September 2008.^[3] Colo celebrated her 59th birthday on 22 December 2015.^[4]

Genealogy

Listed in order of birth (within generation) ^[5] Children (2nd generation):

• Emmy ( February 1, 1968 – June 7, 1982)
• Oscar ( July 18, 1969– June 29, 1993)
• Toni ( December 28, 1971–0000)

Grandchildren (3rd generation):

• Cora (April 25, 1979– June 4, 2003)
• Kahn (1980)
• Roscoe (1980–1981)
• Oscar Jonesy (O.J.) ( July 31, 1981–0000)
• Zura ( September 13, 1981–0000)
• Lang (1982–1983)
• Macombo II (Mac) (October 26, 1983–0000)
• Mosuba (October 26, 1983–0000)
• Motuba (January 23, 1985–0000)
• Mwelu (July 16, 1986–0000)
• Colebridge (October 8, 1987 – May 1, 1994)
• Jungle Jack (January 2, 1987 – November 2, 2008)
• Norman (1988)
• Jumoke (1989–2008)
• Nkosi (gorilla) (1991–2013)
• Casode (Cassie) (1993–0000)

Great-grandchildren (4th generation):

• Timu (1995–0000)
• Jontu (1997–0000)
• Muchana (2000–2009)
• Dotty (2004–0000)
• Hasani (2008–0000)
• Nadami (2010–0000)
• Bomassa (2012–0000)^[6]
• Apollo (2012–0000)
• Unnamed male (2013)^[7]

Great-great-grandchildren (5th generation):

• Bambio (2003–0000)
• Baina (2005–0000)
• Hadari (2009–0000)

External links

• Colo's family tree on Flickr
• Documentary about geriatric zoo animal care through the story of Colo on her 55th birthday

References