Japan: Gorilla Named Shabani Woos Women Now, But He Wasn’t Always King Kong

In Japan, gorilla exhibits have taken on a whole new level of weird. Reports claim Shabani the gorilla is so “handsome” that people are flocking to see what makes Japanese women go ape over this “ikemen,” or “good lucking man.” Although Shabani the gorilla is a superstar now, apparently he was not always this big hunk of a gorilla, and it turns out he already has some competition coming in from the land down under.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Japan’s gorilla exhibit even managed to land a modeling contract for the zoo. Zoo spokesman Takayuki Ishikawa Shabani is a “lot more buff than most gorillas,” and as such he has a pack of adoring female humans checking him out.

“He often rests his chin on his hands and looks intently at you. He is more buff than most gorillas and he’s at his peak physically. We’ve seen a rise in the number of female visitors – women say he’s very good-looking.”

While the 18-year-old gorilla has Japan enthralled now, Madeleine Smitham, a media relations officer at Taronga Zoo, told the Telegraph that this was not always the case.

“I have seen quite an early photo of him and he’s not the handsome man that he is today,” said Smitham, explaining how Japan’s gorilla sensation spent his earlier year at Taronga Zoo on the shores of Sydney Harbour. “He certainly didn’t have quite the same following here that he has in Japan.”

Another Taronga Zoo staffer named Paul Fahy explained how Japan’s gorilla even came to the country. Shabani the gorilla originally came to the zoo as a baby with another silverback gorilla named Kibabu, but as he grew older, they decided it was best to move Shabani to help increase the population.

“Obviously western lowland gorillas are a critically endangered species, so Taronga’s part of a coordinated breeding programme. The decision was made for Shabani to go to Japan as part of the breeding program, which is all about ensuring genetic diversity,” Fahy said, noting that Shabani the gorilla once went viral several years ago when he was tightrope walking at Japan’s zoo.

Unfortunately for Japan’s gorilla exhibit, Australia may have another contender for the world’s hunkiest ape. Fahy says they have a French-born western lowland gorilla named Kibali who is “quite dashing in his own way.” Fortunately for Japanese men, this particular silverback gorilla will not be stealing their women anytime soon since there are no plans to send Kibali overseas.

[Image via Dorkly]