Bokito (gorilla)
Encyclopedia
Western Gorilla
The western gorilla is a great ape and the most populous species of the genus Gorilla.-Taxonomy:Nearly all of the individuals of this taxon belong to the western lowland gorilla subspecies whose population is approximately 95,000 individuals...
born in captivity. Currently living in Diergaarde Blijdorp
Diergaarde Blijdorp
Diergaarde Blijdorp is a zoo in the northwestern part of Rotterdam, one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands...
zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, he became the subject of considerable media coverage after breaking out of his enclosure on May 18, 2007, abducting a female visitor and injuring the woman severely. Following this incident, in which Bokito inflicted bone fractures on his victim and entered a restaurant, "Bokito" became a popular term for a rude and violent man in Dutch language.
Bokito was born in the Zoologischer Garten zoo, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and was abandoned by his mother at birth. He was then raised by human attendants. To avoid the risk of inbreeding
Inbreeding
Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents. Inbreeding results in increased homozygosity, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is...
, he was transferred to Rotterdam in August 2005, where the mauling incident would later take place.
Incidents
In the summer of 2004, Bokito escaped from his enclosure in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and climbed its three-metre-high wall. He was escorted back to his cage without incident.
On May 18, 2007, Bokito jumped over the ditch that separated his Rotterdam enclosure from the public and violently attacked a woman, dragging her around for tens of metres and inflicting bone fractures as well as more than a hundred bite wounds. He subsequently entered the nearby restaurant, causing panic among the visitors. During this encounter, three more people were injured as a result of the panic. Bokito was eventually sedated with the help of a tranquilizer gun and placed back in his cage.
The woman who was attacked had been a regular visitor to the great apes
Great Apes
Great Apes may refer to*Great apes, species in the biological family Hominidae, including humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans*Great Apes , a 1997 novel by Will Self...
' enclosure, visiting an average of 4 times per week. She had a habit of touching the glass that separated her from the gorillas, while making eye contact
Eye contact
Eye contact is a meeting of the eyes between two individuals.In human beings, eye contact is a form of nonverbal communication and is thought to have a large influence on social behavior. Coined in the early to mid-1960s, the term has come in the West to often define the act as a meaningful and...
with Bokito and smiling at him, a practice that is discouraged by primatologists, as apes are likely to interpret human smiling as a form of aggressive display
Display (zoology)
Display is a form of animal behaviour, linked to survival of the species in various ways. One example of display used by some species can be found in the form of courtship, with the male usually having a striking feature that is distinguished by colour, shape or size, used to attract a female...
. Zoo employees had previously warned her against doing this, but she continued, claiming a special bond with him: in an interview with De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, with a daily circulation of approximately . De Telegraaf is based in Amsterdam...
she said, "If I laugh at him, he laughs back".
Aftermath
The week after Bokito's escape, a local health insurance company sponsored the production of 2,000 BokitoKijkers ("Bokito viewers"), paper visors which disguise the direction of the wearer's gaze. The visors were designed by advertising agency DDB AmsterdamDDB Worldwide
DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc., known internationally as DDB, is a worldwide marketing communications network. It is owned by Omnicom Group Inc, one of the world's largest advertising holding companies...
, and won a Bronze Lion for promotional material at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in advertising and related fields. The seven-day festival, incorporating the awarding of the Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France...
, and a Eurobest Silver at the 2007 Eurobest European Advertising Festival
Eurobest European Advertising Festival
The Eurobest European Advertising Festival is an annual event which celebrates and rewards creative excellence in advertising and related fields in Europe....
.
The word "Bokitoproof", meaning "durable enough to resist the actions of an enraged gorilla", and by extension "durable enough to resist the actions of a non-specific extreme situation", was voted the Dutch language
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
"Woord van het jaar" (Word of the Year) for 2007.
Offspring
Bokito is the dominant male of his gorilla group. He has thus far fathered five children with two females in his group: the children were born between October 2006 and July 2011. The main contender to his title as dominant male, Dango, was transferred to ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 2007 along with his two primary female mates.