Western lowland gorilla · No. 1 of 23
Chicago Trades Two Homegrown Sisters
Brookfield moves Kamba and Nora and takes back two from Columbus. First shake-up to that troop in twenty years.
The Deal
The Grades
Brookfield
Broke up a settled room for the right reason. Nora had started testing the hierarchy and there was no path for her here. Two out, two in, no net loss of depth.
Columbus
Adds a 20-year-old and a 12-year-old, both born and raised in one of the best-run gorilla programmes in the country. Columbus already produced Brookfield\u2019s silverback, so they know exactly what they are getting.
The Breakdown
Twenty years without a roster move, and then a two-for-two.
Brookfield Zoo Chicago announced on 29 July that sisters Kamba, 20, and Nora, 12, are leaving. Both were born there. Both grew up inside a multigenerational family group that has not seen a major change to its social structure in more than two decades. In exchange the club takes back two females from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: Kamina, about to turn 12, and Zahra, 8.
The stated reason is the one that drives most of this sport, and it is worth reading closely. Kim Skelton, director of primate care and conservation, described Kamba as calm and laid-back and Nora as bold and confident, then added the line that explains the trade: Nora has recently begun testing her position within the group’s social hierarchy. In gorilla terms that is a player outgrowing her role. In front office terms it is a move made a year early rather than a year late.
The receiving end has history here. Brookfield’s silverback, Jontu, 29, was himself born at the Columbus Zoo. These two organisations have been moving animals between them for a long time, which is the single strongest predictor in the peer-reviewed data of whether a recommended transfer actually gets completed.
What stays behind is one of the most storied rosters in the sport: Jontu, matriarch Binti Jua at 38, Koola at 31, and 8-year-old Ali. Kamba and Nora leave physical monuments in the habitat. A life-size 3D-printed model of Nora’s distinctive heart-shaped nose is mounted in the Bramsen Tropical Forests as a tactile exhibit teaching visitors how field researchers identify individual gorillas, and Kamba appears in a sculpture with her mother Koola.
One caveat on the paperwork. Brookfield did not name the destination in its release, saying only that the sisters join a group at another accredited zoo. The incoming pair is confirmed as coming from Columbus, and the trade has been widely reported as a straight swap with Columbus, but the outbound leg is reported rather than officially confirmed. We will update when the destination is named.
