Amanda

Amanda (1970 - 27th May 2020) was a Western Lowland Gorilla who resided at Woodland Park, Seattle, Washington, United States until her death in 2020. She was the oldest living gorilla and animal residing at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo since the death of Pete and Chinta the orangutan, respectively.  She was born in the wild in Cameroon during 1970 and lived at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo from 1994 until her death. Amanda formerly lived with Pete, however following his death in November 2018, she was moved to live with Vip and Jumoke, who she had previously lived with. Amanda was the mother of three female gorillas: N'Gozi, who was born in 1998 and moved to Toronto Zoo in 2008 and has since had 3 offspring (a son named Nassir (2009) and two daughters named N'Neka (2014) & Charlie (2018)), Calaya in 2002, who moved to Smithsonian National Zoo in 2015 and has since had a son named Moke (2018), and Uzumma, who was born in 2007 and still lives at Woodland Park Zoo, and currently has a son named Kitoko (2020). Amanda was described as being “attentive, nurturing and protective” of her daughter, by staff at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. As of 2019, Vip, Jumoke and Amanda spent mornings in the East exhibit then at Midday, Vip’s group switched places with Kwame’s group, allowing Kwame’s group time in the East exhibit. Vip and Jumoke were given access to multiple indoor bedrooms for the afternoon and Amanda spent the remainder of the day in the West exhibit.

In May 2020, a new 72 square ft sunning yard was built specifically for Amanda, so she could have an outside habitat without integrating with the other gorillas. She had been confined to an indoor habitat since November 2019 when it was discovered that she had developed age-related blindness. The habitat is temporary and easily removable so it can be dismantled prior to the other gorillas entering the wider outside habitat. Amanda’s zoo keepers explained their wish for Amanda to simultaneously be able to experience the outside environment and for her to continue to revive care tailored to her needs at all time. Nancy Hawkes, Ph.D., director of animal care at Woodland Park Zoo, described the zoos’ objective to ensure optimal care for Amanda and allow enrichment of her life, “Providing optimal lifelong care requires innovative thinking and, in Amanda’s case, creating an enriched sunning area in the gorilla habitat that gives her an opportunity to be outside and get fresh air and sunshine, while still maintaining her safety, which is important for her well-being.”

Amanda died on the 27th May 2020 after she was euthanised because her health, appetite and activity had severely decreased in the last weeks of her life. She was praised by Zoo staff, such as mammal curator Martin Ramirez who said that Amanda was “Known for her sweet disposition and being an exceptionally good mom, Amanda showed attentive, nurturing maternal love and care for her daughters.” Ramirez also said “We are going to deeply miss this beautiful animal.” At the time of her death, she was 49 or 50 years old.

At the time of her death, Amanda was one of the oldest gorillas in North America after Helen, Ozoum, Choomba and possibly Demba, depending on Amanda’s date of birth.