News / bristol zoo
Zookeepers debunk viral ‘abandoned’ gorilla claims
Staff members of Bristol Zoo Project have assured the safety and wellbeing of its gorillas, after videos circulating on social media claimed the mammals had been “abandoned” at the zoo’s former premises in Clifton.
In a video shared on Friday, the gorilla keepers admit feeling “threatened” by trespassers entering the facility, which has forced them to shut the animals indoors at night when they would otherwise be having “a great time foraging outside”.
The gorillas can be seen jumping around, chomping on bananas and strolling across the site in the video, with the keepers explaining that their life has carried on “business as usual” since the premises shut down in September 2022.
Bristol Zoo’s Clifton premises closed in September 2022 after 186 years – photo: Karen Johnson
“It doesn’t matter to those gorillas, whether there’s five people watching them or 500,” one of the keepers said in the video.
“Their lives very much go on as normal. The important thing is not the people who are here, but it’s them. It’s their interactions with each other, it’s their family group, and their relationships.”
The video shared by the trespassers also alleged that the gorillas look “miserable”, which the keepers explained is a common misconception due to the mammals having “completely different expressions” which might come across as sad-looking.
She continued: “If we’re happy we would smile, but a smile for a gorilla is actually a sign of aggression.
“So the gorillas very rarely show their emotions through facial expressions as we do, they much more convey how they’re feeling through their actions, through their posture, through their body language.”
The ‘African Habitat’, where the gorillas will soon be moved to, is said to be four and half times larger in size than their current home – photo: Bristol Zoological Society
The keepers also said the gorillas’ new home at what is now Bristol Zoo Project is “taking shape” and that they are working “really hard preparing the gorillas for the move”.
The keepers added: “Of course, the gorillas are blissfully unaware that anything is going to change in their lives.
“But we’re very excited to move, and we’re very excited for you to come along and see them in their wonderful new home.”
They also urged people to stop interacting with videos that spread misinformation: “That information is purely placed there to get your attention, to get you to click on it, to get you to engage in it. But that just encourages it to continue.
“My advice for what you can do to help is just don’t engage with it at all.
“It is misinformation. It is not correct. It is not worth your time.”
Main photo: Bristol Zoological Society
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