Famous zoo animals

zoogeekmaelstrom said:
There are a lot of famous zoo animals like Harambe and Jumbo the elephant, and I would like to see if you have some famous zoo animals that you know or have met in person.
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The most famous animals that I personally saw was when I was a kid on a family vacation was Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing the first giant pandas at the National Zoo, also Ham the first chimpanzee in space. I have also seen Gomek the largest salt water crocodile in the USA at St Augustine Alligator Farm. It was like looking at a living prehistoric reptile.
 
"Mama", (AKA Splutter), the elderly female chimpanzee from Burgers' Zoo whose emotional videoed reunion with Jan Van Hoff went viral. The video also inspired the title for the book about animal emotions, "Mama's Last Hug", by Frans De Waal.
 
GreatApe said:
"Mama", (AKA Splutter), the elderly female chimpanzee from Burgers' Zoo whose emotional videoed reunion with Jan Van Hoff went viral. The video also inspired the title for the book about animal emotions, "Mama's Last Hug", by Frans De Waal.
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These chimps were also made rather famous, at least to primate lovers, in his book 'Chimpanzee Politics'. I visited Burgers some years later, sadly most of the main characters in the group, including those original adult males, had died by then but I was still able to identify 'Mama'.
 
There was a common octopus named "Paul" living at the Sea Life Oberhausen which predicted the outcome of every german game and the final of the 2010 world cup correct.
wikipedia

Not really famous animals but 90 % of the time a potential mix of brown and polar bear is mentioned (climate change, ...) a picture of the mixed bears at Zoo Osnabrück is shown.
 
There was Victor at YWP. Uks oldest polar bear when he passed who's now the zoos mascot and an animal people think of when referring to the zoo. Great ambassador for the species.

Ivan the gorilla at Zoo Atlanta. Spent 27 years in a shopping mall before retirement at Zoo Atlanta. Host of many books and films becoming a good ambassador for gorilla conservation.

Victoria "Vicky" the orangutan at Blackpool Zoo. Not world famous but local favourite who entertained guests over many years with her antics. Real grief following her death in 2019.

I've been lucky enough to see all three of these animals.
 
felis silvestris said:
Nobody's mentioned Berlin's famous hippo "Knautschke"
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"Knautschke" was born on 29th May 1943 and was one of the few animals in Berlin Zoo to survive the Second World War.

I saw "Knautschke" several times in the 1980s on my first few visits to Berlin but, sadly, he died on 20th June 1988 (after being severely injured in a fight with his son).

See links below:

Statue of hippopotamus "Knautschke"; Berlin Zoo; 7th September 2011 - ZooChat

Plaque for hippopotamus "Knautschke"; Berlin Zoo; 7th September 2011 - ZooChat
 
Talking of famous gorillas, but nobody has mentioned Bua Noi, who unfortunately found herself in the hands of some selfish somethingorother and has been subjected to years in a ‘supermarket cage’ in a shopping mall in Bangkok for the last 30 years.
I’ve followed her story for years and it seemed as though they were close to getting her out of there a while back but the chap decided that £15,000 more than the figure he’d originally bartered for suddenly wasn’t enough.
Maybe she’s not classed as famous as lots of people have never heard of her- I don’t feel she’s talked about enough!
 
I don't know if I'd call any of the animals I've seen famous...

I saw CC at the Como Zoo a few times as a child. She was the first female "Sparky" and performed from 2002 to 2015. She was the sixth Sparky and lived to a whopping 31 years.

It was a while before my time, but back in 1979 a group of teenagers broke into Como and bludgeoned a polar bear named Kuma to death. She has something of a morbid legacy... she was taxidermized and now resides in the omnitheater lobby of MN science museum. Certainly not an animal widely remembered, but as someone who grew up going to the science museum on field trips or with friends, she's a bit of a local celebrity to me.
 
GreatApe said:
"Mama", (AKA Splutter), the elderly female chimpanzee from Burgers' Zoo whose emotional videoed reunion with Jan Van Hoff went viral. The video also inspired the title for the book about animal emotions, "Mama's Last Hug", by Frans De Waal.
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This is one of the most bittersweet moments in zoo history. You can see Mama's understanding of what's going on. She knows her days are numbered and knows to say her final thank you and goodbye to her old friend. I'm tearing up just writing this :(
 
littlezoo_keeper said:
Talking of famous gorillas, but nobody has mentioned Bua Noi, who unfortunately found herself in the hands of some selfish somethingorother and has been subjected to years in a ‘supermarket cage’ in a shopping mall in Bangkok for the last 30 years.
I’ve followed her story for years and it seemed as though they were close to getting her out of there a while back but the chap decided that £15,000 more than the figure he’d originally bartered for suddenly wasn’t enough.
Maybe she’s not classed as famous as lots of people have never heard of her- I don’t feel she’s talked about enough!
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It is sad that the Zoo does not want to let her go.
 
I’m curious if Charles the gorilla from Toronto zoo is well known, been at the zoo since opening day and he feels well known to me but that may just be my hometown bias.
 
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