Massa (gorilla)

Massa (gorilla)
SexMale
Born1930
Ghana
Died30 December 1984 (aged 54)
Philadelphia Zoo
Weight400 lb (180 kg)

Massa (1930 – 30 December 1984) was a male lowland gorilla who reached the age of 54 years. At the time, this was the oldest gorilla ever recorded, though later individuals would eventually surpass that record.[1]

Massa was born in the wild in Ghana. He was shipped to the United States at an early age and his first owner was Brooklyn eccentric Gertrude Lintz. In 1935, after accidentally spilling water on Massa, which startled him and prompted him to attack, Lintz sold him to the Philadelphia Zoo.[2][3][4]

In his prime, Massa weighed 400 pounds (180 kg).

Massa lived at the zoo until his death from a stroke on 30 December 1984, following a special birthday party held by the zoo, complete with a special cake and a live dixieland band. He was buried within the grounds of the zoo.

  1. ^ "All results for Massa The Gorilla". search.ancestry.com/. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  2. ^ A Farewell To Massa, Daily News, by Frank Dougherty, Jan. 2, 1985
  3. ^ NY Times, 54-YEAR-OLD GORILLA, OLDEST IN CAPTIVITY, DIES IN PHILADELPHIA, UPI, January 1, 1985 [dead link‍]
  4. ^ Conant, Roger (1943). "Gorilla Round-Up". Scientific American. 168 (6): 246–248. Bibcode:1943SciAm.168..246C. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0643-246. ISSN 0036-8733. JSTOR 24968060.