Great Apes

At the Little Rock Zoo, we are privileged to house a small troop of Western lowland gorillas, led by the distinguished silverback Kivu. Kivu joined our zoo family in 2016, arriving from the Santa Barbara Zoo at the age of 24. In 2018, Kivu became a father to a baby gorilla named Bukavu, with the mother named Sekani. Later, based on recommendations from the Western Lowland Gorilla Species Survival Plan, Sekani and Bukavu were transferred to the Fort Worth Zoo in 2022.

One of our most special residents is Alice, a gorilla with whom visitors may have the chance to see during their visit. Alice joined us from another accredited zoo in 2022, and she has been receiving exceptional care ever since. Like humans, animals can face skin challenges, and Alice is no exception. Despite a recurring skin condition, Alice's health has improved under our veterinary care. Although a patch on her left side may appear red and inflamed at times, Alice continues to lead a fulfilling life alongside her companions, Catherine and Adelina. The humid climate of Arkansas has proven beneficial for Alice's skin condition. We want our visitors to know that while Alice's appearance may be concerning, she receives top-notch care, ensuring she enjoys the best quality of life possible. The Little Rock Zoo takes pride in providing exceptional care for Alice and all our animal residents, ensuring their happiness and comfort at all times.

• Largest living primates (a group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans).
• Despite their formidable size, gorillas are gentle animals.
• The western lowland gorilla is not the gorilla featured in the book and movie Gorillas in the Mist. That’s the mountain gorilla (one of the subspecies of eastern gorilla).
• Western lowland gorillas eat parts of at least 97 plant species.

Western Lowland Gorillas face significant conservation challenges due to habitat loss, poaching, and disease throughout their range in central Africa. Deforestation, mining, and agricultural expansion continue to destroy their natural habitats, making it increasingly difficult for gorilla populations to thrive. Additionally, gorillas are hunted for bushmeat and captured for the illegal pet trade, further threatening their survival. Conservation efforts aimed at protecting Western Lowland Gorillas include habitat preservation, anti-poaching patrols, community education, and the enforcement of wildlife protection laws. The Little Rock Zoo supports these conservation initiatives by raising awareness about gorilla conservation challenges and actively participating in programs that contribute to their protection and survival in the wild. Please join our efforts to secure a future for this species by donating to our conservation fund.

• The Little Rock Zoo is home to a family of 7 chimpanzees.
• The chimpanzee shares more than 98 percent of the same genetic material with humans, making it our closest living relative.
• The chimpanzee is one of the few animal species that makes and uses tools. Examples include using sticks to catch insects and stones to crack open nuts.
• Chimpanzees live in large groups called communities.
• Apes, including chimpanzees, have color vision.
• A chimpanzee's arm span is 1.5 times that of their height which aids in knuckle-walking and climbing.

Chimpanzees are an endangered species. Only about 150,000 chimpanzees’ survive in African forests today, down from one to two million in 1900. They are endangered for many reasons, including poaching, habitat loss, and disease introduced by humans. Much of their habitat has been lost to deforestation in response to logging, creation of farmland, and other human encroachment. Probably the greatest threat to chimpanzees today, though, is overhunting.

Chimpanzees are one of the species most severely imperiled by the illegal commercial bushmeat trade. In Africa, forest is called “bush.” The flesh of wild animals taken from forest is called “bushmeat.” The sale of bushmeat for profit, now occurring on an international scale, poses the most significant immediate threat to wildlife in Africa and around the world.  Logging and mining companies have cut roads deep into the forests, making it easier for commercial hunters to get in, camp, hunt, get out, and take bushmeat to market.

Bushmeat is sold not only in local African villages but internationally, including here in the United States. Many consumers consider it a delicacy. So long as there is demand for bushmeat – and without practical economic alternatives – hunters will supply it.

The Little Rock Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan® (SSP) for chimpanzees. This is a cooperative breeding program, serving 34 zoos working together to ensure the survival of the species. Although our primary role is in population management, we are ultimately interested in the health and wellbeing of ALL chimpanzees, including those living outside accredited zoos and in the wild.  The Chimpanzee SSP is administered under the Ape Taxon Advisory Group (TAG).

What can you do to help chimpanzees?

You can help us bring species like chimpanzees back from the brink by supporting the Little Rock Zoo. Together we can save and protect wildlife around the globe. Please join our efforts to secure a future for this species by donating to our conservation fund.

At the Little Rock Zoo, we're proud to care for a pair of Bornean orangutans along with their offspring. Our male orangutan, Bandar, weighing 315 pounds, arrived from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, in August 2014. Our female, Berani,  joined him in January 2017 from the Los Angeles Zoo as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, ensuring the health and genetic diversity of captive orangutans. Visitors can often spot the pair outdoors throughout the year when temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, but on cooler days or during storms, they enjoy snuggling indoors with their favorite blankets and fresh straw beds. Despite her smaller size, the female leads the pair, and they're often seen cuddling together for naps in the sun. Their family expanded in July 2019 with the birth of their first baby, a female named Kasih, and in February 2024, Berani gave birth to a baby boy, affectionately named Kota after Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, the native habitat of Bornean orangutans.

• Orangutans are the largest tree-living mammals in the world.
• Except for humans, orangutans have the longest childhood of any animal in the world.
• In the Malay language, the name “orangutan” means “person of the forest”.
• Orangutans have the most mobile lips and mouths of all the great apes; they are capable of many facial expressions.
• The Bornean orangutan was upgraded from endangered to critically endanger by International Union for Conservation in July 2016.
• There are two different types of adult male orangutan: flanged and unflanged. Flanged males have prominent cheek pads called flanges and a throat sac used to make loud verbalizations called 'long calls'. They also have a long coat of dark hair on their back.
• Northwest Bornean Orangutan is the most threatened subspecies with only 1,500 remaining. They are spread in Sarawak (Malaysia) and the northern West Kalimantan region (Indonesia).

Northwest Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) is the most threatened subspecies with only 1,500 remaining.  The risk of extinction for the critically endangered Bornean orangutan is very high. Their population levels have dropped more than 50 percent over the past 60 years, and their habitat has declined by over 80 percent in the past 20 years. One of the most serious threats to orangutan viability is the unsustainable practice of timber extraction in Indonesia and Malaysia. Habitat destruction and the subsequent degradation, either from commercial timber harvesting or conversion of land to agriculture (particularly palm oil), poses a very serious threat to these arboreal apes. Moreover, the illegal pet trade is booming in Southeast Asia and infant orangutans are very popular pets. Another significant threat to orangutan survival is hunting for meat and capture of wild orangutans for sale into the pet trade. This practice is closely tied to what is called swidden agriculture: as locals burn fires to clear forested areas, orangutans within those areas flee from the conflagration and are captured for meat or sale.

What can you do to help orangutans?

The Little Rock Zoo’s orangutans are a part of a Species Survival Plan® established by the Association for Zoos and Aquariums. Together with Association of Zoos and Aquariums and Orangutan SSP we help to ensure the species’ survival in the wild through conservation efforts such as programs to combat illegal palm oil harvesting.

We would like to thank the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, CO for being the leader in palm oil education for the AZA and for the Orangutan SSP. Visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to learn about palm oil, its impact on orangutans and other species, and what you can do about the crisis.  In addition to the free smartphone app, you can also download an "elevator speech" with ideas to make it easy to tell others about the palm oil crisis, and many other resources to help you become an informed consumer. Please join our efforts to secure a future for this species by donating to our conservation fund.