It was a Texas-themed affair.
Near the glass panels that connected the boys to an awed, outside world, the state’s name was spelled out with stalks of celery. Pillowcases of the Lone Star flag were stuffed with a trail mix of hay, craisins, peanuts and Cheerios.
On a nearby wall hung a kraft paper banner: “So Long, Partners.”
Juba eats a snack at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas as the zoo throws a going away party for them on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The trio made their debut Saturday morning in San Antonio as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Breaking News
Earlier this month, the Dallas Zoo said goodbye to its bachelor troop of Western lowland gorillas — Shana, B’wenzi and Juba. The trio made their debut Saturday in San Antonio, ringing in a new era for the Bexar County institution.
Their arrival marks the first time the San Antonio Zoo has been home to gorillas in more than three decades.
Shana, 23, B’wenzi, 14, and Juba, 12, will reside in the zoo’s “Congo Falls,” described by officials as “an all-new world-class, two-acre gorilla habitat.”
According to Daryl Hoffman, the San Antonio Zoo’s vice president of animal care, Congo Falls features a 30-foot waterfall, water-play zones, nearly 300 trees and plants, and the world’s tallest gorilla tower at over 70 feet, offering 360-degree views for both guests and gorillas.
The exhibit also houses a family troop, including three female gorillas from Zoo Atlanta and a male from the Houston Zoo.
“Our roles in zoos are to bring people close enough to care,” Hoffman told The Dallas Morning News. “There’s literally nothing like this experience.”
Species survival
The transfer from Dallas to San Antonio, Hoffman explained, was part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, a program designed to support genetically healthy, sustainable populations of endangered species in accredited zoos.
Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, which zoo officials said is the result of habitat destruction, poaching and disease in the wild.
Megan holds her baby, Mbeke, at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Since San Antonio was starting from scratch with a new exhibit, Hoffman said experts recommended introducing an established troop, allowing for an easier transition.
Keith Zdrojewski, a senior mammal curator at the Dallas Zoo, said their boys were a perfect fit, noting they’ve not only been together for 12 years, but have been well trained to be both adaptive and resilient.
Still, he said, it’s bittersweet.
“This is all part of being a zookeeper: you have the greatness of life, and then you also have death, and then you have all this stuff in between,” Zdrojewski said.
“It’s full of emotions, this job.”
Remembering Zola
Zola, the fourth member of Dallas’ bachelor troop and a beloved social media star, was unexpectedly euthanized on Nov. 5. He was 23.
Zola bites into a snack at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas as the zoo throws a going away party for them on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Shortly before preparations for the troop’s move began, Zola started showing signs of lethargy, reduced appetite and discomfort. He was monitored around the clock, receiving fluids and antibiotics as zoo officials worked to determine the cause.
When every test came up empty, Zola underwent a series of procedures, with the hope better diagnostics would help guide his care.
After one of the procedures, Zdrojewski said, Zola was unable to breathe on his own.
”That’s when we had to make the decision,” Zdrojewski said, “that he wasn’t going to pull through from it.”
Zdrojewski told The News Zola’s necropsy showed he had balamuthia mandrillaris, a free-living amoeba that lives in water, soil and dust. It can enter the body through a wound or simply by breathing it in, but experts have yet to discover how to prevent infection, or why the amoeba infects some, but not others.
“It’s hard to not have an explanation per se, of why or how to prevent it or how to move forward,” he said. “ It’s hard for the team in particular, given all the care and work that they did.
“For them, it’s like losing a family member.”
Zola was best known for his playful personality and big heart. He went viral on social media several times for breakdancing, spinning and splashing in water, moves that were once even featured in a Green Day music video.
“Our zoologists will remember him for his love of music, especially Whitney Houston songs during enrichment sessions, and his silly bipedal runs that never failed to make them smile,” zoo officials wrote in a statement.
B’wenzi watches as Zola eats a snack at the Dallas Zoo in Dallas as the zoo throws a going away party for them on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. The trio made their debut Saturday morning in San Antonio as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
The right choice
The loss put a temporary hold on the move as Zdrojewski said the rest of the troop was closely monitored and supported.
“We don’t know in their consciousness how they understand death,” he said. “They just know that something wasn’t right with Zola, and then he wasn’t there anymore.”
Once leadership felt confident both the staff and the boys were OK, they decided to proceed with the transfer — sooner rather than later. According to Zdrojewski, the hope was a shorter timeline would prevent the troop from having to adjust their social hierarchy more than once.
“I think with them being able to go to San Antonio, be back together and eating already, that shows that what we did here was the right choice,” he said.
In their absence, Zdrojewski said the Dallas Zoo will use the next few months to make long-awaited renovations to their gorilla habitat.
Once the team is ready, they’ll move in a new bachelor troop.
The cycle begins again.
“They’re gonna be able to do all these new awesome things in San Antonio, a whole new chapter of their life experience,“ he said. “And that gives us the opportunity to bring in more gorillas here to do the same with.
“How great is that?”