The western lowland gorilla family has been represented at Durrell since it first opened in 1959, when they had only an infant female gorilla named N'Pongo, who was later joined by a younger infant female gorilla named Nandi, and continue today to be one of the icons of the park. The current enclosure includes a good sized outdoor play area, and three internal rooms, two large on-show ones and a smaller off-show one. The current family of five is led by a silverback called Badongo, who was born in Les Valles des singes. Badongo is the successor of Ya Kwanza. The remaining members of the family are female. From the Jambo era, are Kishka, and Kahilli, (Jambo x N'Pongo). There is also a young female named Bahasha. Kahilli has had two offspring from Ya Kwanza, a male named Mapema, and a female named Ya Pili. In 2007 the family suffered the loss of the youngest gorilla Ya Pili. The other three females did not bred with Ya Kwanza.
