Kibabu the silverback has worked long and hard for the past 17 years wooing lady gorillas and protecting his family group at Taronga Zoo.
Now, 14 offspring later, it's time for the 36-year-old to retire to the quieter, privately owned Mogo Zoo, on the NSW south coast.
Taronga's senior primate keeper, Richard Buzas has been working with Kibabu for almost 10 years.
He says he's going to miss his ape friend and they've formed a special bond.
"We're all going to miss him ... he's been here for almost 20 years," he told AAP on Wednesday.
Kibabu's devoted females, Kriba and Mouilla, joined by their youngsters, will be moving too.
A French silverback, Kibali and his own loyal females, will take Kibabu's place as top male.
Mr Buzas said Kibabu has had "a good run" and probably would have already been knocked from his top spot in the wild.
"Earlier than now or now he would have had a challenge or two from different silverbacks," he said.
"We manage this group as a wild group of animals and part of that is replicating what would happen in the wild.
"So what we're doing is getting a new silverback just as a group would in the wild."
Kibabu has a proud genetic lineage and has offspring all over the world.
Mr Buzas said it was part of a worldwide breeding program to produce a back-up population of the critically endangered Western Lowland Gorilla.
"He's done a very good job in that part of his role ... schmoozing the ladies," he said.
Mr Buzas says Kibabu has excellent health, is relatively stress-free and could live until his late 40s.
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