02-05-2025
Brookfield Zoo to welcome first bachelor gorilla troop this summer
The player above shows a previous story from April 15, 2025, on the Trump Administration's decision to cancel funding for study of behavioral diversity in animals at Brookfield Zoo.
BROOKFIELD, Ill. — A couple of bachelors will soon call Brookfield Zoo their home.
Shango and Barney are adult western lowland gorillas, or silverbacks, coming to Brookfield from Miami. The brothers will form the first-ever bachelor troop at the zoo.
Bachelor troops are made up of younger males who have left their family troop or adult males who haven't formed one.
'These social troops help foster critical skills and relationships, contributing to the well-being of the individuals and the species,' zoo officials said.
Shango, 36, and Barney, 31, were born at San Francisco Zoo and have lived together at Zoo Miami for the past several years.
The zoo says Shango is known for his stoic expressions and often appears to hold up his middle finger because of an injury he got while playing that left him unable to bend that finger.
Barney is known for his cooperative nature and voluntarily participates in his veterinary care, Brookfield Zoo said.
Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered due to habitat loss, poaching and disease.
The gorillas will be joining Bornean orangutans and several species of monkeys in the new James & Elizabeth Bramsen Tropical Forests exhibit this summer.
According to the zoo, guests will be able to get up close to the primates through viewing areas, including two indoor and four outdoor habitats spanning nearly three acres.
For more information on the new exhibit, click here.
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