Pogo

Pogo (1958 – May 24, 2006) was a female western lowland gorilla who was a feature of the Gorilla World exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo. Pogo was a childless but motherly matriarch, loved by generations of San Franciscans. When she died at the age of 48, she was believed to have been one of the oldest living gorillas in captivity. Life Early years Pogo was born in 1958, in the rainforests of French Cameroon, where she was part of a gorilla troop that included Bwana, a gorilla who would eventually find his way to the Zoo in 1959. Pogo was orphaned after her parents were killed, most likely for bushmeat. She was adopted by American missionaries and a nurse in a Cameroon leper colony, where she rode motorcycles, dressed up in clothes, and attended tea parties. In 1961, at the age of three, Pogo was purchased by philanthropist Carroll Soo-Hoo, and donated to the San Francisco Zoo. Captivity