this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
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interestingasfuck

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 6 months ago (3 children)

All of these people are scheming something comically devious.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago

no they’re not

👉👈

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Williamina Dafoe in the back there in particular.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That image is quite unsettling.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Wouldn't the better solution be to simply not turn gorillas into a public attraction?

[–] [email protected] 84 points 6 months ago (15 children)

Generating awareness and sympathy is probably the biggest factor in keeping many endangered species alive

[–] [email protected] 55 points 6 months ago (1 children)

To add to this, A lot of gorillas that are saved from unsafe/illegal conditions cannot go back into the wild. Places like The Rotterdam zoo provides a lot of enrichment for these animals that you won’t see at say, Joe’s roadside animal park.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Why not save animals from unsafe/illegal conditions and provide enrichment, without turning the animals into an attraction?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago (19 children)

Because the attraction rallies support for preserving and protecting their natural habitat. Zoos act as promotional centers for conservation.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Because people wouldn't support spending their taxes on it without making them aware of the value. Which is done by educating them.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 6 months ago

Whey do you mean? We entirely dominate them, and transparently acknowledge all species on this planet are either our commercial resources, or our entertainment

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Wait, a person came to a zoo every day and stared at a Gorilla?

How many days? Did this person just go to the zoo every single day and mean mug a gorilla?

Is this an anime plotline, a zoo employee, or is OP's headline a bit misleading?

[–] [email protected] 57 points 6 months ago (3 children)

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".

If only I could have been that one employee who got to visit her in the hospital and whisper "told ya".

[–] [email protected] 31 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that ain't a 'smile' he was doing

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

I mean, it looks like a smile, but when gorillas bear their teeth it's an act of aggression. They also think we're being aggressive if we bear our teeth at them (smile).

Somebody should have explained that to her.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

They almost certainly did, let's be real.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

You bare teeth. Unless you're, like, carrying them with the militia?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They then moved the gorilla to a different city, and she followed the gorilla there and continued to stare at him. After he mauled her in the cafe, he just sat around peacefully and waited for the zookeepers to take him away.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Did he try the hot chocolate?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

Why wouldn’t they just bar her crazy ass from the zoo.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (1 children)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-dutch-gorilla-idUSL3042888320070530/

The 180 kg (397 lb) Bokito seriously injured a woman, who it later emerged has visited the ape almost every day since his arrival at the zoo a year and a half ago

Dutch citizens lost sympathy for the woman after it emerged that she has visited the gorilla about four times a week and said that Bokito "remains her darling" despite suffering a broken arm and wrist and around 100 bites.

Dutch Media widely reported that the woman misunderstood what she perceived as a smile from the gorilla. Experts suggest he was more likely to have been baring his teeth as a threat.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

One hundred bites. Holy fuck. Bet it didn't take him long either.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

In a different context I would bust out the horny bat.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Fun fact: This incident was huge news in The Netherlands and inspired the new term "bokito-proof," meaning strong enough to withstand or contain a gorilla.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago

Don't worry for gorilla, it still can get out.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Found a Reddit thread about this. Some of the users further down in the comments did some digging and found this old news article. Other Redditors mentioned that they don't give out the glasses anymore, and that the glasses were mainly a marketing plot by an ad agency.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

They definitely don't give those glasses anymore and in fact, the particular gorilla has passed away as well. I believe last year

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

All of these people look like they're staring at me...? Wouldn't sunglasses have worked better?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

Those might look like freaks with HUGE eyes staring.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

From Wikipedia

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. 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 Word of the Year for 2007 in the Netherlands.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

For those who didn't read how obsessed the woman was, let's just say there's a good chance she might have been attracted to the gorilla 🦍

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