Bobo (gorilla)

:"For the MST3k character, see Professor Bobo."

Bobo (1951-1968) was a western lowland gorilla who was a prominent feature of Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, USA, from 1953 until his death. As a publicly accessible gorilla in the wake of "King Kong", Bobo was one of Seattle's most prominent attractions before the 1962 World's Fair and the introduction of professional sports to the city. Bobo is immortalized on display at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry.

Life before captivity

Found barely two weeks after his birth by William Said, Bobo had been orphaned by his mother in French Equatorial Africa. Said took Bobo back to Columbus, Ohio, USA, where Said's mother looked after the infant ape.

Life on Fidalgo Island

Bobo was brought to Anacortes, Washington, on Fidalgo Island in 1952 by Bill Lowman, who drove across country with the gorilla in his car. Bobo lived in the Lowman family home until his size and strength posed issues too serious to ignore. Arrangements were then made for Bobo to move to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where he eventually died. For a brief period of time a "preserved" Bobo was kept at the Anacortes Museum.

References

* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=1369 HistoryLink Essay: Bobo the Gorilla]
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/paynter/78747_paynter17.shtml "Though he's been dead 34 years, Bobo has a lot to live for] , "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", 2002-07-17
* [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=4922 The Life and Death and Life of Bobo] , "The Stranger", 2000-09-14
* [http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0118/ann-25mem.php 25 Memorable "Seattle Weekly" Stories] , "Seattle Weekly", 2001-05-02
*Cosby, Bill. "Seattle". "I Started Out as a Child", 1964.