Riverbanks Zoo’s Cenzoo the gorilla has died following health issues

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – Riverbanks Zoo & Garden has announced one of their beloved gorillas has died.

Zoo officials say Cenzoo had fluid in his abdomen and a mass near his colon, with limited treatment and recovery options.

They made the tough decision to euthanize him to prevent his condition from worsening.

Cenzoo, who was born at Lincoln Park Zoo in 1996, moved around to several other zoos before ending up in Riverbanks in 2015.

While at Riverbanks, he had two sons ZaKota and Moyo, the first successful gorilla births in the zoo’s history.

The animal care team who were close with Cenzoo shared the following tribute:

“Since his arrival at Riverbanks, Cenzoo was a steady presence in our piece of the gorilla world. Cenzoo led his family with confidence, always acting in their best interest. Always more cautious than he needed to be, he made sure that everyone stayed safe. He was a strong, patient father, a consistent leader for his family, a protector against any and all scary things that he thought might threaten his family. This included odd-looking Christmas lights, snakes that wiggled too much, and bugs that smelled unusual. Cenzoo was also an incredibly intelligent gorilla, always challenging new keepers by seeing how little he could do to still get his rewards. During food toss, if you were not feeding him fast enough, he would give you the famous Cenzoo side-eye and clap to let you know he was ready. Everyone who had the privilege to work with Cenzoo feels this loss deeply. All of us feel extremely lucky to have helped him lead a happy and full life.”