Trudy

Trudy (1956-7 - 24th July 2019) was a Western Lowland Gorilla who was estimated to have been born in 1956 or 1957, in the wild in Africa. She was taken to the United States in 1957 and was housed at Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo, New York, where she had her only child, Mzuri (1966-1983). She resided at Buffalo Zoo for 31 years, until her transfer, with her mate Ollie to Little Rock Zoo, Arkansas, U.S in 1988, where she remained until her death on the 24th July 2019. She was one of first gorillas ever to be exhibited in Arkansas, alongside Ollie. Trudy did not any children in the zoo, however she "played an important role in the formation and longevity of one of the first multi-male gorilla groups, which are now commonly seen in zoos." During her later life, she resided in a smaller “gorilla yard” along with her companion, Brutus. From the death of Colo on the 20th January 2017, until her own death on the 24th July 2019, she was the joint oldest gorilla in the world (with German gorilla Fatou). She was well-liked at the Little Rock Zoo and was described as a ”hardy gal that did what she wanted to do when she wanted," by former keeper Syd Tanner. She (along with Fatou) went on to surpass Colo’s final age at some point in 2017 or early 2018. By some estimations, Trudy may have been slightly older than Colo, but other sources list her as born the following year. After Trudy’s death, Fatou became the sole titleholder for world’s oldest gorilla, Helen became the world’s second oldest gorilla and Ozoum and Old Bob became the world’s joint third oldest gorillas.