Bristol Zoo WOW! Gorillas - Endangered PJs

Bristol Zoo WOW Gorillas project commemorates Bristol Zoo Gardens' 175th birthday. This blog is about Frances Cony's design ENDANGERED PJs. Her gorilla Bert is wearing pyjamas decorated with endangered animals. The 60 gorillas (63 now with the addition of Doris,Rafiki & King Kong Merrily on High) were around Bristol from 6 July - 7 September. 20 were at Queens Walk, More London from 16-23 September. ENDANGERED PJs was on the Bristol-Bath cyclepath at Bitton Station.

Saturday, 6 August 2011

Bert at Bitton

Bert at Bitton, where he is apparently a hit with the local kids. (9 July 2011)

A couple of little boys (aged about 4 or 5) wanted to 'poke him in the eye or bottom'...with coffee stirrers. I tried to tell them about bushmeat and endangered animals. It went a bit over their heads! A little girl said that she liked him.

Despite the jolly pyjamas the gorilla (Bert) is to wear, this gorilla design is meant to illustrate how some of our planet's most recognisable species - as well as lots of lesser known ones - are in danger of dying out.

Red is for danger and is also for the Red List of endangered species produced by IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), which is why I chose to make the background red...it also looks good!

Why I chose pyjamas is to do with the euphemism 'going to sleep' meaning dying.

At the time I made the design (January 2011), the animals featured on the pyjamas were either Critically Endangered: Bactrian Camel, Black Rhino, Vaquita, Orinoco Crocodile; Endangered: Blue Whale, Chimpanzee, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda, Tiger, Grevy's Zebra, Tasmanian Devil, Malayan Tapir; or Vulnerable: African Elephant. The Mountain Gorilla is also Critically Endangered.

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Saturday, 6 August 2011

Bert at Bitton