Jumoke was a western lowland gorilla

Western Lowland Gorilla

The western lowland gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos...

 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio

Powell, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,247 people, 1,975 households, and 1,789 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,057.3 people per square mile . There were 2,032 housing units at an average density of 669.2 per square mile...

.

Life

Jumoke was born on November 10, 1989 at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. She was the granddaughter of Colo

Colo (gorilla)

Colo is a Western Gorilla famous for being the first gorilla to be born in captivity anywhere in the world. She is also the oldest gorilla in captivity in the world. She was born at the Columbus Zoo to Millie Christina and Baron Macombo . She was briefly called Cuddles before a contest was held...

, the first gorilla born in captivity. Jumoke was hand-reared until she was 18 months old. Because she was hand raised she had a hard time raising her own offspring and required the assistance of surrogates. Jumoke however did save the life of her son Jontu who was not breathing at birth. She put Jontu's head to her mouth and started breathing for him.

Jumoke died unexpectedly on August 18, 2008. The cause of death is believed to be complications from an earlier miscarriage.