In “Tarzan,” the gorilla who adopts Tarzan is Kala.
Kala finds the orphaned human infant after a leopard named Sabor kills his parents. She has also lost her own baby to Sabor, so she takes the child into her family and names him Tarzan. Her decision establishes the film’s central question: whether family is determined by species or by love and loyalty.
Kala raises Tarzan among the gorillas and remains his most consistent protector. She is Kerchak’s mate, while Kerchak serves as the troop’s leader and initially struggles to accept Tarzan because he is human. Kala supports Tarzan even when he feels alienated from the troop and later tells him she will accept whichever life he chooses.
Terk is Kala’s niece and Tarzan’s adoptive cousin, which makes her easy to mistake for his adoptive mother. Tantor, by contrast, is an elephant and Tarzan’s friend. Kerchak is the troop leader and Tarzan’s reluctant adoptive father figure. In Disney’s 1999 film, Kala was voiced by Glenn Close.