Bokito 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 May 18,
2007, abducting a female visitor and injuring the woman severely.
Bokito was born in the Zoologischer Garten zoo, 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 would later take place.
Incidents In mid-2004, Bokito escaped from his
enclosure in Berlin 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' enclosure, visiting an average of four
times per week. She had a habit of touching the glass that separated her
from the gorillas, while making eye contact 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. 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, "If I smile
at him, he smiles back". = Aftermath=
The week after Bokito's escape, a local health insurance company sponsored the
production of 2,000 BokitoKijkers, paper visors which disguise the direction of
the wearer's gaze. 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, and a Eurobest Silver at the
2007 Eurobest European Advertising Festival.
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 "Woord van het
jaar" 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 Shanghai in 2007 along with his two primary female
mates. See also
Travis References
^ "Four injured as escaped gorilla recaptured". DutchNews.nl. Retrieved 18
April 2015. ^ a b Fielder, Sabine. "Did love or fury
spur Dutch gorilla's attack?". Reuters. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
^ "Gorilla goes on Dutch zoo rampage". BBC. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
^ Bokito uitgelokt door steentjesgooiers en vrouw DAG.nl
^ "Dutch woman still likes gorilla despite attack". NBC. Retrieved 18 April
2015. ^ FBTO Health Insurance: Bokito Viewer
^ DDB's award list for Cannes 2008 ^ Cannes 2008 winners list at
Adforum.com ^ EB 2007 Direct Winners
^ Favourite ‘Dutch’ word for 2007 is ‘Bokitoproof’
^ Woord van het jaar 2007 via archive.org
External links Rotterdam Zoo's current gorilla "family
tree" Bokito at Gorilla Stud Book
(Dutch) News story on Bokito's escape News story on the aftermath of Bokito's
escape Printable "Bokito Viewer"