--- title: Colo, World's Oldest Known Gorilla, Dies at Columbus Zoo description: Colo — the oldest known gorilla on record — passed away overnight in her sleep less than a month after celebrating her 60th birthday. canonical: https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-18T16:58:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:14.919Z og:title: Colo, the World's Oldest Known Gorilla, Dies at 60 at the Columbus Zoo og:description: "She was an ambassador for gorillas" og:url: https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5733832b567b13/6988b5ea2dce010ac39ebeff/colo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Colo, the oldest gorilla born in captivity, sits in straw at Columbus Zoo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Colo, the World's Oldest Known Gorilla, Dies at 60 at the Columbus Zoo twitter:description: "She was an ambassador for gorillas" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5733832b567b13/6988b5ea2dce010ac39ebeff/colo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The World's Oldest Known Gorilla Has Died at 60: 'She Was an Ambassador for Gorillas'  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 18, 2017 4:58 PM UTC  Colo, the oldest gorilla born in captivity, sits in straw at Columbus Zoo in Columbus, OH, in 2015. Colo, the oldest gorilla born in captivity, sits in straw at Columbus Zoo in Columbus, OH, in 2015.Reuters  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 18, 2017 4:58 PM UTC The oldest known [gorilla](http://100photos.time.com/photos/brent-stirton-gorilla-congo) on record passed away overnight in her sleep less than a month after [celebrating her 60th birthday](http://time.com/4270953/heres-a-video-of-some-gorillas-going-on-an-easter-egg-hunt/), the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced Tuesday. Colo — a [Western lowland gorilla](http://time.com/4353115/jane-goodall-gorilla-harambe-cincinnati-zoo/) born in 1956 — was reportedly the first gorilla ever born in a zoo and lived more than 20 years longer than the average captive gorilla. Her death comes shortly after she had a malignant tumor removed from under her arm Dec. 3\. However, it is currently unknown if the cancer is ultimately what caused her death. She will be cremated and her ashes will be buried at an undisclosed on-site location, according to a [statement from the zoo](https://columbuszoo.org/home/about/press-releases/press-release-articles/2017/01/17/columbus-zoo-announces-the-death-of-colo). > [](https://twitter.com/ColumbusZoo/status/821372520142172160) “Colo touched the hearts of generations of people who came to see her and those that cared for her over her long lifetime,” said Tom Stalf, the zoo’s president and CEO. “She was an ambassador for gorillas and inspired people to learn more about the critically endangered species and motivated them to protect gorillas in their native habitat.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/"},"headline":"The World's Oldest Known Gorilla Has Died at 60: 'She Was an Ambassador for Gorillas'","datePublished":"2017-01-18T16:58:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:14.919Z","description":"\"She was an ambassador for gorillas\"","url":"https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","Zoos"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5733832b567b13/6988b5ea2dce010ac39ebeff/colo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b5733832b567b13/6988b5ea2dce010ac39ebeff/colo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Colo, the oldest gorilla born in captivity, sits in straw at Columbus Zoo","caption":"Colo, the oldest gorilla born in captivity, sits in straw at Columbus Zoo","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4637580/oldest-gorilla-dies/","name":"The World's Oldest Known Gorilla Has Died at 60: 'She Was an Ambassador for Gorillas'"}}]}] ```