Dallas Zoo gorilla Subira, who was ‘an excellent father,’ dies at 24

Subira, the patriarch of the Dallas Zoo’s gorilla family troop, has died from heart disease, the zoo announced Friday.

The Western lowland gorilla was 24.

According to the zoo, Subira had been treated for a mild cough in the days before his death, a symptom that didn’t seem to indicate anything more than the common cold.

But his necropsy revealed cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death for male gorillas, the zoo said.

The zoo said its male gorillas receive bimonthly heart rate tests, as well as ultrasounds every three years, to help ensure their hearts are healthy. Subira’s last heart rate test and his most recent ultrasound, performed in 2018, didn’t show anything out of the ordinary.

Although federal health officials have not reported any cases of animals contracting COVID-19, the zoo said it was “incredibly sensitive to concerns” about the disease caused by the new coronavirus because of Subira’s cough. But the zoo said it confirmed that the silverback tested negative for the virus.

According to the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, male gorillas in captivity typically live to about 33 years old.

Subira had been at the zoo since 2014, when he joined the troop from a zoo in Quebec as part of a breeding recommendation in an effort to increase the population of Western lowland gorillas in North American zoos.

Subira had a health scare in 2015, when he developed colitis and low-grade pneumonia. After multiple treatments, including a blood transfusion, and losing about 90 pounds, he eventually made a full recovery.

In his years at the Dallas Zoo, he fathered two children: Saambili, who was born in June 2018 and was the zoo’s first baby gorilla in 20 years, and Mbani, who was born last March.

After Saambili’s mother, Hope, died suddenly last year, the 1-year-old was “understandably shaken,” the zoo said. Subira, whom the zoo had previously called “an excellent father,” didn’t leave his daughter’s side, the zoo said.

“We know your hearts are hurting, along with ours, for our gorilla family troop,” the zoo said in a Facebook post. “It’s going to take some time for Megan, Shanta, Saambili, and Mbani to adjust to life without Subira, but our troop is resilient.”

The female gorillas were keeping the children close, and they had been out in the habitat enjoying the sun this week, the zoo said. The zoo has been closed since mid-March because of concerns about the coronavirus.

The Facebook post asked people to keep the zoo’s employees in their thoughts.

“Subira was a loving, patient, and gentle silverback, and he will be dearly missed by all of us,” the post said.