WAlfred the Gorilla arrived at Bristol Zoo, England, in 1930 and became a popular attraction and animal celebrity. His fame grew to international proportions during World War II and after his death he remained an important mascot for the city of Bristol.
WBobo (1951–1968) was a western lowland gorilla who was a prominent feature of Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, USA, from 1953 until his early death at 17. As a publicly accessible gorilla in the wake of King Kong, Bobo was one of Seattle's most prominent attractions before the construction of the Space Needle and the introduction of professional sports to the city. After his death, Bobo's skin was stuffed and placed on display at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. The remainder of his body was turned over to the University of Washington's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture for research purposes; however, the skull went missing shortly after his autopsy and wasn't reunited with the rest of the skeleton until 2007.
WBokito is a male western gorilla born in captivity, currently living in Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He became the subject of considerable media coverage after breaking out of his enclosure on 18 May 2007, abducting a female visitor and severely injuring her.
WColo was a western gorilla widely known as the first gorilla to be born in captivity anywhere in the world and as the oldest known gorilla in the world. Colo was born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to Millie Christina (mother) and Baron Macombo (father), and lived there for her entire life. She was briefly called "Cuddles" before a contest was held to officially name her. Colo's name was derived from the place of her birth, Columbus, Ohio.
WFatou is a gorilla residing at Berlin Zoo, Germany. Estimated to have been born in 1957 in the wild, she was brought from West Africa to France by a sailor in 1959, and then acquired by the Berlin Zoo. In 1974 she gave birth to the first gorilla to be raised in Berlin, Dufte. She celebrated her 62nd birthday on April 13, 2019. Since the death of Colo in January 2017, she has likely been the oldest living gorilla in the world.
WGargantua was a captive lowland gorilla famed for being exhibited by the Ringling Brothers circus. He has been credited with saving the business from bankruptcy. An acid scar on his face gave Gargantua a snarling, menacing expression, which the circus management exploited by generating publicity falsely exaggerating his purported hatred of humans. He was also claimed to be the largest gorilla in captivity.
WGuy the Gorilla (1946–1978) was a western lowland gorilla who was London Zoo's most famous resident and often profiled on children's TV shows and natural history productions. The exact day of Guy's birth was unknown, but the official birthday was set by the Zoo as May 30, and he received large numbers of cards each year.
WOn May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla. Fearing for the boy's life, a zoo worker shot and killed Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to use lethal force. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals near humans and the need for better standards of care.
WIvan was a western lowland gorilla born in 1962 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was captured from the wild as a baby and brought to live with humans. For the first few years of his life he lived with his owners, but he soon grew too big for a human house and they moved him to a 14' x 14' concrete enclosure on display to the public at the B&I shopping center in Tacoma, Washington, where he spent the next 27 years of his life.
WJambo was a gorilla housed at Durrell Wildlife Park in Jersey, Channel Islands. He was involved in an incident in which he was seen to be protective of a child who fell into his enclosure.
WHanabiko "Koko" was a female western lowland gorilla. Koko was born at the San Francisco Zoo and lived most of her life in Woodside, California, at The Gorilla Foundation's preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The name "Hanabiko" (花火子), lit. ''fireworks child'', is of Japanese origin and is a reference to her date of birth, the Fourth of July. Koko gained public attention upon a report of her having adopted a kitten as a pet and naming him "All Ball", revealing her ability to rhyme.
WLouis the Gorilla is a western lowland gorilla who is known for walking upright in order to avoid muddying his hands. A clip of Louis that was posted to the Philadelphia Zoo's Facebook page became popular and he gained international fame.
WNico was a western lowland gorilla who lived in captivity at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, UK. At the time of his death, at 56 years old, he was the third oldest Western lowland gorilla in Europe and was thought to be the Fifth oldest gorilla in the world, and the second oldest in the Uk behind Babydoll Nico's habitat on Half Mile Lake at Longleat covered over half an acre and included lookout stations, tree trunk climbing frames and tyre and net swings.
WPattycake, also known as Patty Cake was a female western lowland gorilla born to Lulu and Kongo at the Central Park Zoo in New York City. She was the first baby gorilla successfully born in captivity in New York. Months after her much publicized birth, Pattycake's arm was broken when it got stuck in her cage as her mother grabbed her away from her father. The incident was sensationally anthropomorphized in the media as a domestic dispute between Lulu and Kongo, but in reality experts thought it was a simple accident.
WSamson (1949–1981) was a male silverback western lowland gorilla given to the Washington Park Zoo in Milwaukee Wisconsin by the Pabst Brewing Company. Samson reached a weight of 652 lb (296 kg) and lived alone in a glass enclosure. He often hit the windows in frustration and managed to break the glass four times. He was moved to the Milwaukee County Zoo in 1959, and quickly became the main attraction. Samson was one of the largest gorillas in captivity.
WShabani is a male western lowland gorilla, who was born at the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands, raised in Australia and currently resides at the Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, Japan. He gained publicity in 2007 at Higashiyama Zoo when he was 10 years old by tightrope walking.
WSnowflake was an albino western lowland gorilla. He was kept at Barcelona Zoo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 1966 until his death.
WTitus was a silverback mountain gorilla of the Virunga Mountains, observed by researchers almost continuously over his entire life. He was the subject of the 2008 PBS Nature/BBC Natural World documentary film Titus: The Gorilla King.
WWillie B. was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo of Atlanta for 39 years, from 1961 until his death on February 2, 2000. He was named after the former mayor of Atlanta, William Berry Hartsfield. Willie B. was kept in isolation for 27 years with only a television and a tire swing to keep him company. In 1988, he was moved to an outside exhibit and allowed to socialize and raise a family. He then embraced his role as silverback and leader of a troop.