Bakari, a western lowland silverback gorilla, is getting accustomed to his new home and leadership role at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.
Visitors may spy the 21-year-old male along the park’s Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. Bakari previously lived in a bachelor group at a zoo and now is being introduced to females and social interactions, Walt Disney World says.
“This is all very new for Bakari,” animal-care expert Rachel Daneault said on the official Disney Parks Blog. “Our goal is to help him feel comfortable and confident at every stage. We take the process slowly because building those social relationships with the females is incredibly important.”
The family group previously was led by Gino, who lived at Animal Kingdom from the time of the park’s opening in 1998 until his death in September 2025. He was 44.
Disney says Bakari was living at an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoo and that the move is a part of the organization’s Species Survival Plan and its breeding plan. The St. Louis Zoo, in a post on social media a month ago, said Bakari was transferring from that facility to another institution in “Central Florida to start his own family.” He had been in St. Louis since 2011 and was born in Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo in 2005.
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“Pairing Bakari with our females can help strengthen the long-term future of the population,” Daneault said. “That’s important because we want future generations to be able to connect with these animals and be inspired to help protect them.”
While Gino had a bombastic, chest-pounding demeanor, so far Bakari is calm while absorbing the activities in his new surroundings, Disney says.
“This is the dawn of a new era,” Daneault said.
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