Have zoos helped gorillas and sharks overcome "King Kong" and "Jaws"?

[DavidBrown]

I saw that "Jaws" is coming out on Blu-ray and it got me wondering about whether zoos and aquariums can have long-term, measurable positive effects on how people understand, appreciate, and contribute to the conservation of species like sharks and gorillas.

"King Kong" is a classic movie, but I think that it probably did a great deal of damage to how people see gorillas. With the modern revolution of zoo exhibits that emphasize the social, mostly gentle, and sometimes human-like family relationships and ecology of gorillas I wonder if anyone has studied whether people who watch gorillas in these exhibits come away with a positive view of these animals that they didn't have before. Does anybody know? I imagine that the work of Dian Fossey and the "Gorillas in the Mist" movie did much good, but zoos have been working to reverse the social image of gorillas continuously for the last several decades.

Ditto sharks, which continue to suffer from the stigma that "Jaws" (great movie that it is) and the endless shark movies that followed it inflicted on their reputation. Have aquarium and zoos had any positive transformative effect on how sharks are seen by the people? I know that Peter Benchley worked hard for the last years of his life to help undo the damage that his novel and the film adaptation did to sharks.

 

[Pertinax]

I imagine that the work of Dian Fossey and the "Gorillas in the Mist" movie did much good, but zoos have been working to reverse the social image of gorillas continuously for the last several decades.

What I find interesting is how their reputation has swung the other way now- Gorillas are nowadays continuously portrayed as 'Gentle Giants' as if they wouldn't hurt a fly. Although that can be partially true, there are other innate behaviours too- males will kill the infants of rivals and can inflict nasty wounds during fights, just like other primates. While many zoo Gorillas are friendly and good natured, I know of certain individuals that have been extremely dangerous and untrustworthy, and treated with extreme caution by keeping staff. Also Gorillas that have escaped in Zoos have sometimes seriously attacked people, including their own keepers.

And despite her close relationship with particular gorillas such as 'Digit', some of Diane Fossey's less habituated Mountain Gorillas gave her some uncomfortable moments(refer to the book, not the film!).

Obviously their true nature lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[Arizona Docent]

The image of gorillas is definitely as Gentle Giants. The original King Kong movie is so old that I do not think it has any real effect on the current generation. I would like to think that zoos and documentaries helped change people's minds.

Sharks, on the other hand, still get a bad rap I believe. This is partly because (a very small number) of sharks actually do kill people each year. Not so with gorillas (as far as I know). Aquariums play an invaluable role in educating people about the importance of sharks - but they still have a lot of work to do. If the shark-fin soup trade continues unabated, there may not be any sharks left for people to worry about.

 

[Pertinax]

The image of gorillas is definitely as Gentle Giants. The original King Kong movie is so old that I do not think it has any real effect on the current generation. (

Agreed. They have a totally respctable/harmless image nowadays- as I said above, its rather swung to the other extreme...

Sharks are still much feared though. There are still many close-up pictures of surf boards etc with big bites of shark teeth in them.