Bokito is a male western gorillaborn in captivity, currently living in Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He became the subject of considerable media coverage after breaking out of his enclosure on 18 May 2007, abducting a female visitor and severely injuring her. Bokito was born in the Zoologischer Garten, Berlin, Germany, and was abandoned by his mother at birth. He was then raised by human attendants. To avoid the risk of inbreeding, he was transferred to Rotterdam in August 2005, where the mauling incident later took place.
Incidents
In mid-2004, Bokito escaped from his enclosure in Berlin and climbed its wall. He was escorted back to his enclosure without incident. On 18 May 2007, Bokito jumped over the water-filled ditch that separated his enclosure in Rotterdam from the public and violently attacked a woman, dragging her around for tens of metres and inflicting bone fractures as well as more than a hundred bite wounds. He subsequently entered a nearby restaurant, causing panic among the visitors. During this encounter, three more people were injured as a result of the panic. Bokito was eventually sedated with a tranquilizer gun and placed back in his cage. The woman who was attacked had been a regular visitor to the great apes' enclosure, visiting an average of four times per week. She had a habit of touching the glass that separated the public from the gorillas, while making eye contact with Bokito and smiling at him. Although smiling is often associated with submissive or non-aggressive behavior in gorillas, eye contact is a practice that is discouraged by primatologists, as apes are likely to interpret eye contact as a challenge or a form of aggressive display. 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".
Bokito is the dominant male of his gorilla group. He has thus far fathered five offspring with two females in his group, born between October 2006 and July 2011. The main contender to his title as dominant male, Dango, was transferred to the Shanghai Zoo in 2007 along with his two primary female mates.
