Winston, celebrity gorilla at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, dies at 52

SAN DIEGO - Winston, a silverback who ruled over a peaceful gorilla kingdom at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for decades and whose 204kg frame concealed his tender personality, died on July 13. He was 52.

The decision was made to euthanise Winston after staff observed a decline in his health, according to a statement from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. He was a western lowland Silverback gorilla, a critically endangered species.

“This gentle giant will be remembered for his quiet strength, easygoing nature and heart of gold,” park officials said in a statement posted on social media. “Winston served as the protector of his family and was recognised as one of the oldest silverbacks in the world.”

Winston, native to Central Africa, was born in the wild and raised in England before arriving in San Diego in 1984. “His craggy face – to be honest, it was a little scary!” said Peggy Sexton, a lead mammal keeper, of Winston’s arrival in a 2018 article on the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s website.

But he also had a soft and polite personality. He fathered nine offspring and ruled over a troop of five gorillas, who respected his authority and would fall into order with just a look from Winston.

His tolerance led to some interactions that are uncharacteristic of silverbacks. Winston allowed an unrelated male to join his troop on two separate occasions, and he welcomed two step-children that remained under his reign until they neared reproductive age and began challenging him.

Winston had some idiosyncrasies. He preferred prunes and did not like honeydew melon and actively avoided being wet, according to park staff. “He walks around puddles,” Sexton said in 2018. If the ground was damp, Winston would sit on cardboard, when available, to stay dry. While the other gorillas fluffed and luxuriated in the bedding provided by zoo staff at night – intended to mimic the vegetation these mammals use to create nests – Winston plopped his massive frame on the ground. As he aged, he began making cushiony nests.

His age brought other changes. In 2017, staff began noticing signs of decline. He appeared lethargic and was not eating and drinking. Thorough testing ruled out concerning health issues and indicated it was just normal ageing.

When the whole troop contracted the coronavirus in 2021, Winston was most severely affected, staff members said. Doctors soon discovered other health issues, and he began receiving medical treatments for heart disease, degenerative joint disease and kidney disease. The results of his care were contributed as research to the Great Ape Heart Project, which studies heart disease and cardiac myopathy in adult male gorillas.

Winston’s health had been worsening lately, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said.

“After careful considering, stemming from furthering complications from his worsening conditions, and with Winston’s quality of life top of mind, wildlife health and care teams made the difficult decision to compassionately euthanise him,” the statement read.

Winston far exceeded the median life expectancy for male gorillas in the wild, which is 33, according to the alliance’s website. He was recognised as one of the oldest silverbacks in the world, a spokesperson for the Alliance said. NYTIMES