Toronto Zoo
On September 24, 1974 Charles was sent to the Toronto Zoo, where he has lived ever since. His name was given to him because his particularly round face reminded the staff at the zoo of Charlie Brown. When Charles was first brought to the zoo, he was considered rather unattractive because he was missing part of his hair and had lesions and/or sores that bespeckled his body.
Charles, along with Amanda, Barney, Caroline, Josephine, Julia, and Samantha, were part of the Toronto Zoo's first acquisition of a group of wild-caught gorillas for the newly opened zoo. The Toronto Zoo opened its doors in August 1974 and since then some 33 million visitors have seen the zoo's gorillas (A figure which grows by about a million people each year). This group of seven gorillas has conceived over 33 children and are represented by more than 23 living offspring, comprising three generations. Charles has sired at least 9 children, of which six still survive today.
Read more about this topic: Charles The Gorilla
Famous quotes containing the word zoo:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)