Wow Gorillas - A New Life

The Wow Gorillas initiative was a mass public art event which took place over the Summer of 2011, in Bristol, England, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Bristol Zoo. In July 2011 61 multi-coloured and life-sized gorillas sprang up in the streets and parks of Bristol with the challenge to track them all down! The gorilla trail was an amazing success and Bristolians took the gorillas to their hearts, with the internet and social networking sites swamped with photos, blogs and tweets ever since!

The project was organised by Bristol Zoo and, in September 2011 the gorillas were sold at auction, raising a massive £427,300 for charity, with the Bridge's "own" gorilla, Gorisambard raising the most of all - £23,000! The proceeds were shared between vital gorilla conservation work and Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal. Further details can be found on http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/wow-gorillas. Since the auction everyone has been asking – “Where have the gorillas gone?” and “Will we ever see them again”? Some are on public display but most seem to have disappeared!

Wow Gorillas – A New Life is an initiative by over half of the 61 gorilla owners to make their gorillas available, on an occasional basis, for charity and community events in and around Bristol. Our aim is to for the gorillas to have a “New Life”, bringing continuing pleasure to the people of Bristol and beyond, with the explicit aim of raising more money for charity, including the two founding charities.

This website is your way of communicating with us, and the gorillas participating in the scheme can be seen by clicking here. If other owners would like to join in, we’d be delighted. Please contact Blackbeardorilla (Tim Baines) on wowgorillas@hotmail.co.uk

If you are a charity or community event organiser and would like to see if any gorillas are interested in joining in your event, please click here and complete the contact form. Details will then be passed to us. Note that we give no promises that a gorilla will attend your event – this is at the absolute discretion of each owner. We do however promise to pass on your details and if an owner is interested we will let you know. The earlier you let us know and the more charitable (and fun!) the event the more likely it is that you will hear from us!

The Wow Gorillas are back!

Blackbeardorilla