When I went he was in a seperate exhibition about 'Sex' which you had to pay to go into, so I didn't see him.
His head seems slightly small in relation to his body here. Its interesting his feet are mounted as they were in life, slightly deformed, as he walked on the sides of his feet, not the soles, due to the hard concrete floor in his old cage.
It is rather ironic that ‘Guy’, who never bred, featured in a prominent position in such an exhibition; however, it provided a good opportunity to see him again as it was many years since ‘Guy’ was last on display at the museum.
I suppose he was the first adult gorilla that most Britons over 40 ever saw. I still find it easier to recognise him from a photo than virtually any other wild animal.
It's interesting, too, that as late as 1978 it was deemed acceptable to have such a famous animal mounted on display after death. I think even ten years later this wouldn't have been acceptable - certainly not for a great ape.
He was certainly the first Gorilla I ever saw, at that time he was the only one in the UK until Bristol Zoo got their pair mid 1950's.
I was very surprised to hear that Jersey's Jambo was also mounted after his death- though have never been able to verify this- I did hear he was either part of a display at Edinburgh museum, or behind the scenes offshow there, but again have never verified that.
He was certainly the first Gorilla I ever saw, at that time he was the only one in the UK until Bristol Zoo got their pair mid 1950's.
I was very surprised to hear that Jersey's Jambo was also mounted after his death- though have never been able to verify this- I did hear he was either part of a display at Edinburgh museum, or behind the scenes offshow there, but again have never verified that.
I totally abhor these "mountings" and taxidermy in general, to think that maybe Jambo,who is possibly the most beautiful silverback that i had the absolute priviledge to witness is stuffed somewhere in a museum makes my heart sink.
I totally abhor these "mountings" and taxidermy in general, to think that maybe Jambo,who is possibly the most beautiful silverback that i had the absolute priviledge to witness is stuffed somewhere in a museum makes my heart sink.
Lots of zoo animals are mounted and displayed in museums after their death, especially well-known individuals such as gorillas and giant pandas or scientifically important specimens such as quaggas and thylacines.
In addition to ‘Guy’, other mounted zoo gorillas that I’ve seen that immediately spring to mind are:-
• Lincoln Park’s ‘Bushman’ in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
• Berlin Zoo’s ‘Bobby’ in the Museum fur Naturekunde, Berlin
• London Zoo’s ‘Mok’ in the Leeds Museum
• Bristol Zoo’s ‘Alfred’ in the Bristol Museum
and doubtless there are many other examples.
I appreciate that this is a controversial subject and understand that some object to famous zoo animals being displayed in museums after their death. Personally, I don’t believe in being sentimental about zoo animals after they’ve died and have no problems with them being displayed in museums.
I saw ‘Guy’ countless times when he was in London Zoo and was extremely sad when he died. And I always feel sad whenever I see a zoo animal in a museum that I knew in life, but that doesn’t prevent me from being objective about their remains.
Do you only object to mounted great apes or all animals?
When animals such as thylacines and quaggas died in zoos, then surely it was right preserve these specimens for posterity. It would have been an appalling waste if their bodies had been discarded after death.
I totally abhor these "mountings" and taxidermy in general, to think that maybe Jambo,who is possibly the most beautiful silverback that i had the absolute priviledge to witness is stuffed somewhere in a museum makes my heart sink.
to think that maybe Jambo,who is possibly the most beautiful silverback that i had the absolute priviledge to witness is stuffed somewhere in a museum makes my heart sink.
As I said, I was a little surprised to hear this, given his fame, and have still not been able to verify it.
If you thought Jambo was beautiful (which he undoubtedly was) you should have seen his younger brother 'Migger' who went from Basel to La Palmyre. He was even more beautiful (and so is his son Mike, still there).
Guy the gorilla is one of many specimens featured in a new display at the museum.
The new exhibition features the collection's 22 most valuable treasures.
