Gladys Porter Zoo gorillas to move to Florida for breeding program

The Gladys Porter Zoo will have two fewer Western lowland gorillas by the end of the weekend.

The zoo is sending the mother, daughter team of Mary and Pele to Busch Gardens Tampa in Florida on Saturday as part of the zoological community’s breeding program called Species Survival Program.

The Western lowland gorilla is native to areas of Africa but is a critically endangered species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list, according to a GPZ press release.

Once they arrive at Busch Gardens, Mary and Pele will join six other Western lowland gorillas in the park’s Myombe Reserve, a naturalistic rainforest habitat that is home to both gorillas and chimpanzees.

Once the pair leaves, the zoo will still have a dozen Western lowland gorillas.

Both Mary and Pele (whose full name is Iwa Pele Rafiki) were born and raised at the zoo. Mary, who is 22-years-old, is the daughter to the zoo’s original Western lowland gorilla pair, Lamydoc and Katanga. Pele is nearly five-years-old.

Mary and Pele will be on exhibit at the zoo's Gorilla Island until Thursday afternoon.