2-year-old western lowland gorilla Eyare dies at Calgary Zoo

Eyare, a two-year-old female western lowland gorilla died at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo Tuesday morning, officials said.

Colleen Baird, Wilder Institute director of animal care, health and welfare at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, told reporters Tuesday afternoon that Eyare was injured while moving between back of house spaces Tuesday morning.

"Her care team and her veterinary staff acted extremely quickly to save her, but Eyare subsequently passed away as a result of her injuries," Baird said.

She added the zoo will lead an investigation into the death of the gorilla, including conducting a necropsy, talking to staff, and looking at surveillance video to understand what went wrong.

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The investigation will also highlight any changes to processes or infrastructure at the zoo that need to be made to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Eyare was born at the zoo on April 20, 2022, the first offspring of her mother Dossi and father Jasiri.

"Her passing will leave an immense hole in the hearts of our organization and our community," Baird said. "Eyare will be remembered for a playful, curious spirit. Her short but impactful life brought unending joy to our lives. She will be deeply missed by all."

Baird said it's too early to determine the cause of Eyare's sudden death, and that the zoo needs to look into the matter further.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo cares for six gorillas in total, two male and four female. Baird added the rest of the gorillas at the zoo are grieving the death of the young Eyare, and animal handlers will be monitoring the primates in the coming days for any changes in behaviour.

Baird said the team at the zoo moves animals through back of house spaces daily.

"It's not an unusual practice that happened today," she said.

"There's spaces in the back of house area where we do training with [the] gorillas, where we feed them … so they're moving from one location to another habitat. That gives us better chances to do training with them, ultrasound, vet care."