Kathryn

Kathryn “Kathy” was a western lowland gorilla who resided at Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden at the time of her death. She was born in the wild during and 1963 and was captured and taken to America. For part of her early life, she resided at the Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was then transferred to Oklahoma City Zoo in December 1971, at the age of 8. During her residence at Oklahoma City Zoo, she gave birth to 8 gorillas, including now 46-year old Fredrika and now 16-year old George who she had with Bom Bom, a male gorilla who died in 2012, aged 36. George continued to reside at the zoo at the time of Kathryn’s death. Kathryn was one of the first animals to benefit from the 1991 sales tax that increased funding for the zoo. One of the first large projects from that funding was the zoo's ape facility. Kathryn was in good health for her entire life, she continued to eat and socialise with the rest of her troop the day before her death. One of her only health issues was the loss of an eye in a fight with another gorilla several years prior to her death. At the time of her death, she was considered the matriarch of her troop, she had eight children as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren who reside in the zoos across the U.S. She died peacefully in her sleep on the 19th February 2013 at the age of 50. She was discovered deceased in her favourite hammock in the Great EscApe exhibit at Oklahoma City Zoo. At the time of her death, she was one of the oldest living gorillas in North America. Zoo veterinarian Jennifer D'Agostino described Kathryn as a “a very charismatic animal“