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Date & Time

September 20, 2026

Gorilla Conservation at the Zoo

World Gorilla Day

You’re Invited! Join us at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 20 to celebrate Mboka Jo’s first birthday!

World Gorilla Day is September 24, but we’re starting the celebration a few days early! Come wish baby gorilla Mboka Jo a happy first birthday and watch him enjoy a special birthday cake at 11 a.m.

Want to bring Mboka Jo a birthday gift? Recycle your old e-gadgets! Bring eligible electronics to recycle and you’ll be entered to win a Gorilla Gift Basket from Mboka Jo’s care team! Each gadget you bring in earns you one entry for the gift basket!

Test Your Gorilla Knowledge & Be Entered to Win!

In the wild, researchers learn to identify individual gorillas by looking at the shapes and wrinkles on their noses, and may even keep hand-drawn sketch-books. Can you be a gorilla researcher and match the sketch to the gorilla?

Test your gorilla knowledge and fill out this form and be entered to win a VIP experience with the gorillas and their care team.

1 winner. Must book VIP experience by October 31, 2025.

Answer Key + Enter to Win a VIP Experience
gorilla

Conservation

Western lowland gorillas are a critically endangered species. For over 20 years, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has been supporting wild western lowland gorilla conservation work in the Republic of Congo.

Some of the biggest threats gorillas face are human encroachment, poaching, and zoonotic disease. It has been estimated that about 2,000 gorillas are lost on an annual basis. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has been acting over the last two decades to help make a difference in western lowland gorilla research and conservation by supporting the Mbeli Bai Study in the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, located in the Republic of Congo. Mbeli Bai is the longest-running field study of western lowland gorillas that have observed and provided insight on gorilla behaviors and social dynamics.