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Bokito (gorilla)

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Bokito
SpeciesWestern gorilla
SexMale
Born(1996-03-14)14 March 1996
Berlin, Germany
Died4 April 2023(2023-04-04) (aged 27)
Rotterdam, Netherlands
ResidenceRotterdam, Netherlands

Bokito (14 March 1996 – 4 April 2023) was a male western gorilla born in captivity that lived most of his life 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.

Bokito was born in the Zoologischer Garten, Berlin, Germany, and was abandoned by his mother at birth. He was then raised by human attendants. To avoid the risk of inbreeding, he was transferred to Rotterdam in August 2005, where the mauling incident later took place.

In November 2021, Bokito and other gorillas of his family became infected with COVID-19.[1]

Incidents

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Bokito

In mid-2004, Bokito escaped from his enclosure in Berlin and climbed its 3-metre-high (9.8 ft) wall. He was escorted back to his enclosure without further incident.[2]

On 18 May 2007, Bokito responded to children throwing rocks at him[3] by jumping over the water-filled ditch that separated his enclosure in Rotterdam from the public; he 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 a nearby restaurant, causing panic among the visitors. During this encounter, three more people were injured as a result of the panic. Bokito was eventually tranquilized and placed back in his cage.[4][5][6]

The woman who was attacked had been a regular visitor to the great apes' enclosure, visiting an average of four times per week. She had a habit of touching the glass that separated the public from the gorillas, while making eye contact with Bokito and smiling at him. Although smiling is often associated with submissive or non-aggressive behavior, in gorillas[7] eye contact is a practice that is discouraged by primatologists, as apes are likely to interpret eye contact as a challenge or a form of aggressive display.[citation needed] Zoo employees had previously warned her against doing this, but she continued, claiming a special bond with him: in an interview with De Telegraaf she said, "When I smile at him, he smiles back".[4][3][8]

Aftermath

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The week after Bokito's escape, a local health insurance company sponsored the production of 2,000 BokitoKijkers ("Bokito viewers"), paper visors which disguised the direction of the wearer's gaze.[9] The visors were designed by advertising agency DDB Amsterdam, and won a Bronze Lion for promotional material at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival,[10][11] and a Eurobest Silver at the 2007 Eurobest European Advertising Festival.[12]

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 Word of the Year for 2007 in the Netherlands.[13][14]

Offspring

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Bokito was the dominant male of his gorilla group. He fathered ten offspring with multiple females, born between October 2006 and February 2022. The main challenger for his title as dominant male, Dango, was transferred to the Shanghai Zoo in 2007 along with his two primary female mates.[citation needed]

Death

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Bokito died on 4 April 2023, at the age of 27.[15] In November 2023, Blijdorp indicated that they would stop hosting gorillas after Bokito's death, stating that it would be a risk to introduce a new male and that the zoo needed the space for other conservancy efforts.[16] In January 2024, Blijdorp announced that Bokito would serve as an object of study of the musculoskeletal system of apes, with a detailed scan of him to be made by KU Leuven. His remains would subsequently be made available to the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, where they would be stored for at least ten years.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bokito in Blijdorp besmet met corona, ook andere gorilla’s en leeuwen hebben het virus
  2. ^ "Four injured as escaped gorilla recaptured". DutchNews.nl. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b [1] (in Dutch) DAG.nl (via archive.org)
  4. ^ a b Fielder, Sabine (30 May 2007). "Did love or fury spur Dutch gorilla's attack?". Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Gorilla goes on Dutch zoo rampage". BBC News. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Four hurt as gorilla escapes at Dutch zoo". The Guardian. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  7. ^ Waller, Bridget M.; Cherry, Lyndsay (2012). "Facilitating Play Through Communication: Significance of Teeth Exposure in the Gorilla Play Face". American Journal of Primatology. 74 (2): 157–164. doi:10.1002/ajp.21018. PMID 22512019. S2CID 23579647.
  8. ^ "Dutch woman still likes gorilla despite attack". NBC. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  9. ^ "FBTO Health Insurance: Bokito Viewer". Adsoftheworld.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  10. ^ "DDB's award list for Cannes 2008" (PDF). DDB. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2009.
  11. ^ Cannes 2008 winners list at Adforum.com
  12. ^ "EB 2007 Direct Winners" (PDF).
  13. ^ Favorite ‘Dutch’ word for 2007 is ‘Bokitoproof’
  14. ^ Woord van het jaar 2007 (in Dutch) via archive.org
  15. ^ "Gorilla Bokito Overleden" (in Dutch). Blijdorp. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Blijdorp neemt afscheid van alle gorilla's na dood Bokito" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 8 November 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023.
  17. ^ van Koesveld, Pjotr (19 January 2024). "Blijdorp stelt Bokito ter beschikking aan wetenschap, maar wil voorkomen dat hij een 'selfie-object' wordt". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 January 2024.
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