Brookfield Zoo adds gorilla to breeding program

Brookfield Zoo’s gorilla breeding program is adding a new member — a 32-year-old male silverback gorilla named JoJo.

He had been living at the Lincoln Park Zoo. He’ll be used at Brookfield as part of a breeding program aimed at saving the critically endangered western lowland gorilla.

The Brookfield Zoo’s gorilla exhibit has been close for the past month to allow JoJo to get acclimated to his new home — and to the female gorillas. It reopens Monday.

Staff hopes JoJo will breed with the zoo’s 24-year-old and 17-year-old female gorillas. An 8-year-old female will be allowed to reproduce with him when she turns 10.

Officials say gorillas normally breed in three- to four-year intervals, so JoJo could produce five to six offspring over the next 10 years.