On December 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the
world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever
gorilla born in captivity.

Before Colo’s birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the
wild, often by brutal means. In order to capture a gorilla when
it was young and therefore still small enough to handle,
hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other
family members.  

Colo was fond of baseball caps.

Colo on her 60^th birthday, surpassed the median life expectancy for female gorillas in human care (37.5 years) by more than two
decades.

Colo became a mother of three, grandmother of 16, great-
grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of three.

She died in her sleep January 17, 2017, less than a month
after her birthday.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Neka, the oldest member of the
Oregon Zoo’s African lion pride, had a seizure and 
died Friday night at age 16.

Zoo officials stated that wild female lions rarely live
past 16  years old.

Neka with one of her cubs.

The oldest known living terrestrial animal is Jonathan (above), a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa),
originally from the Seychelles, but now a long-time resident of
the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. He is believed to have 
been born (or hatched) c. 1832, thus making him 190 years old 
this year. In January 2016, the BBC reported that Jonathan was
given a new diet intended to keep him healthy and extend his life.

This is Johnathan in 2021.

Colo died January 2017 at age 60 in the zoo where she was so
famously born. (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)

On December 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the world at the
Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. She
Weighed in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla
whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter
of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who
were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas
found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to
capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to
handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family members.

Colo, who generated enormous public interest, went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving
infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first
baby in 2003.