(COLORADO SPRINGS) — On Wednesday, April 9, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (CMZoo) shared that recently, Roxie, a 48-year-old female Western lowland gorilla, was humanely euthanized, due to age-related decline.

CMZoo said Roxie was an icon, as the zoo’s longest living resident. Roxie was born in 1976 and was a constant on the mountain for generations of staff and visitors. Roxie was well known throughout the gorilla care community because she was the fifth oldest Western lowland gorilla in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

According to CMZoo, although Roxie did not have children, she was important at the CMZoo, playing a key role in the cohesiveness of the troop at CMZoo. Roxie was the “cool aunt” to 32-year-old gorilla Asha, often playing and wrestling with her when she was a baby. She also helped 32-year-old Kwisha settle in at CMZoo when she was not accepted by her mother at another zoo, and she moved to CMZoo at 8 months old.

Roxie was instrumental in social support, leading Asha and the troop one step closer to future offspring by helping Goma, a silverback, learn his place in the troop. CMZoo said Roxie’s confidence around Goma helped him learn how to lead female gorillas with respectful dominance. Helped, in part, by Roxie’s calm and gentle leadership, the other female members of the group followed her lead and learned to embrace him.

“She was the first gorilla we ever saw have a tickle fight with Goma,” Ashton Asbury, Primate World keeper, says. “Goma and Roxie shared a special relationship. She gave him grace and reacted calmly to his natural displays, which helped the troop’s level of calmness during some of those introductions, but she also banded with other females to help him learn limits.”

CMZoo said Roxie was known for her playfulness and excitability. Even in her older years, she would beat her chest, clap, and make happy gorilla noises when she saw her keeper preparing to train with her.

Gorillas are extremely intelligent and social. After she passed, Roxie’s care team moved her back into the space with her troop, so they could say goodbye and understand her absence. CMZoo said the loss of Roxie will likely be felt by the CMZoo gorilla troop, Asha, Swisha, and Goma, as much as the humans who cared for her.

CMZoo keepers are asking for the public’s support to honor Roxie by recycling small electronic devices at CMZoo. Coltan, a mineral used in cell phones and other electronics, is part of the cause of habitat loss for Western lowland gorillas, as many of the West African lowland forests and swamps that these animals call home are also natural deposits of coltan. CMZoo said coltan is recyclable, and by donating old electronics, valuable supplies of coltan can be used for future phone production.

Guests can donate electronics to CMZoo admissions, or there is a recycling collection bin near the gorillas’ indoor dens at Primate World.