Vila

Vila (1957 - 27th January 2018) was a western lowland gorilla who resided at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego California, U.S from 1975 until her death on the 27th January 2018. She was born in the wild in Congo in Africa and was captured and acquired by the San Diego Zoo Zoo aged two, in 1959. She was transferred to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 1975. She had five generations of descendants and acted as the surrogate mother for several hand-raised gorillas. She celebrated her 50th birthday in October 2017, alongside her granddaughter Leslie (born 2016) who was aged one at the time. She died on the 27th January 2018, surrounded by her gorilla troop. She was reported to have been “beloved” and it was reported that staff and visitors of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park “missed the matriarch”, with Randy Riches, mammals curator at the safari park saying “She will be missed by zoo members, guests, volunteers and staff.” As her exact date of birth is unknown, it is unknown if she was older of younger than Fatou and Trudy, however she could have been the oldest gorilla in the world after the death of Colo on the 17th January 2017, or she could have been the 2nd or 3rd oldest gorilla behind Trudy, Fatou or Trudy and Fatou. She is currently the 4th oldest known gorilla ever after Fatou, Trudy and Helen.