GORILLAS LAND

The Sedgwick County Zoo is an AZA-accredited wildlife park and major attraction in Wichita, Kansas. Founded in 1971 with the help of the Sedgwick County Zoological Society, the zoo has quickly become recognized both nationally and internationally for its support of conservation programs and successful breeding of rare and endangered species. Having over 2,500 animals of nearly 500 different species, the zoo includes on its animal collection penguins, okapis, lions, meerkats, wild dogs, tigers or red pandas. Sedgwick Zoo received the first gorillas in May and June 2004. They were six males who came from Kansas City, San Francisco and Oklahoma. The zoo set its first family group, leadered by Matt, in 2013 with the arrival of Kivu, Kigali and Barika, and in 2016, Barika gave birth to the first ever baby gorilla at this zoo.

Gorillas are kept at Sedgwick on complex called The Dowing Gorilla Forest, which has an outdoor grassy prairie (provided with trees, trunks, rocks, hammocks and a waterfall), a public indoor exhibit, an off-exhibit day room and 8 small bedrooms. As they have four gorilla groups, when it is over 40 degrees outside, one troop will be in the outdoor exhibit, another will be in the indoor exhibit, a third will be at the off exhibit day room and a last one will be on the off-exhibit bedrooms. Gorillas are rotated daily, allowing each troop explore all of the areas over a four day cycle.