Description
Book SynopsisRelates the story of a juvenile gorilla named Pongo, brought to Europe in 1876 and housed at the Unter den Linden Aquarium in Berlin. Examines human-animal interactions and science at a time when the theory of evolution was first gaining ground.
Trade Review“Haikal has, with brevity, drawn together around one animal important issues relating to nineteenth-century scientific interest in primates; ideas about gorillas in popular culture and imagination; the nature of zoos and animal exhibition; the popular, scientific, and civic politics and economics of such exhibitions; and the relationships between natural history, exploration, and the colonial enterprise at the time. This is no mere story of a gorilla.”
—Garry Marvin,University of Roehampton
“Haikal’s history of the small, sleepy, playful little gorilla who became known as Master Pongo shows how a single animal could challenge expectations and change the way Western scientists and the general public thought about these enigmatic creatures. The book is a compelling read and outstanding example of how to recover the life story of an animal from the past.”
—Nigel Rothfels,author of Elephant House
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1. “Gorilla Fever”
2. The Discovery of a Monster
3. The Research Station on the Coast of Loango
4. A Valuable Present
5. Darwin’s Felicitations
6. The Aquarium “Unter den Linden”
7. The Most Popular Resident of Berlin
8. Under Observation
9. “The Only Gorilla Is Coming”
10. Final Certainty
Afterword: The “Giant Apes”
Short Biographies
Notes
Bibliography
Credits
