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Master Pongo - A Gorilla Conquers Europe (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R710
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Master Pongo - A Gorilla Conquers Europe (Hardcover)
Series: Animalibus
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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In the summer of 1876, Berlin anxiously awaited the arrival of what
was billed as "the most gigantic ape known to zoology." Described
by European explorers only a few decades earlier, gorillas had
rarely been seen outside of Africa, and emerging theories of
evolution only increased the public's desire to see this "monster
with human features." However, when he arrived, the so-called
monster turned out to be a juvenile male less than thirty-two
inches tall. Known as M'Pungu (Master Pongo), or simply Pongo, the
gorilla was put on display in the Unter den Linden Aquarium in the
center of Berlin. Expecting the horrid creature described by the
news outlets of the time, the crowds who flocked to see Pongo were
at first surprised and then charmed by the little ape. He quickly
became one of the largest attractions in the city, and his handlers
exploited him for financial gain and allowed doctors and scientists
to study him closely. Throughout his time in Europe, Pongo was
treated like a person in many respects. He drank beer, ate meat,
slept at the home of the head of the aquarium, and "visited" London
and Hamburg. But this new lifestyle and foreign environment weren't
healthy for the little gorilla. Pongo fell ill frequently and died
of "consumption" in November 1877, less than a year and a half
after being brought to Europe. An irresistible read, illustrated
with contemporaneous drawings, this critical retelling of the
expedition that brought Pongo to Berlin and of his short life in
Europe sheds important light on human-animal interactions and
science at a time in Western society when the theory of evolution
was first gaining ground.
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