Cheyenne Mountain Zoo says goodbye to 48-year-old gorilla Roxie

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo says they are remembering the long life of Roxie, a 48-year-old female Western lowland gorilla.

According to the zoo, Roxie was humanely euthanized, due to age-related decline, on Tuesday, April 8, surrounded by her animal care team. She was the zoo's longest-living resident, having been born there in 1976.

The zoo said that although Roxie did not have offspring, she contributed to the Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan and SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) Gorilla in many important ways, including playing a key role in the cohesiveness of the troop at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

The zoo also said that because gorillas are extremely intelligent and social, Roxie’s care team moved her back into the space with her troop after her passing so they could say goodbye and understand her absence.

According to the zoo, Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, and their numbers continue to decrease in the wild due to a number of factors, including disease, poaching, and habitat loss due to logging for agricultural use, human settlements, and mining.