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Endangered Gorillas Santa Barbara Zoo's Newest Residents

Two Western Lowland gorillas latest addition to Santa Barbara Zoo

The Santa Barbara Zoo has two very fierce looking new residents who are part of an effort to save their species from extinction. The zoo received two endangered Western Lowland gorillas this week.

The gorillas, which are named Nzina and Bangori, are brothers, and come to Santa Barbara from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. They’re among more than 350 gorillas now at North American zoos as part of a conservation effort to increase the population of the species.

The Santa Barbara Zoo is hosting what is known as a bachelor group, which in the wild is when young males leave their families, and live together until they are old enough to establish their own families. The population in the wild of central Africa, and the Congo Basin has been so decimated that experts say even if all of the threats to the gorillas were eliminated, it would take 75 years for the population to bounce back to safe levels.

The new gorillas aren’t on public display yet. They have to go through a 30 day quarantine period before they will be moved into the open.