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Willie B.
Willie B. (c. 1958 – February 2, 2000) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo of Atlanta for 39 years, from 1961 until his death on February 2, 2000. He was named after the former mayor of Atlanta, William Berry Hartsfield. Willie B. was kept in isolation for 27 years with only a television and a tire swing to keep him company. In 1988, he was moved to an outside exhibit and allowed to socialize and raise a family. He then embraced his role as silverback and leader of a troop.
Willie B. was the second gorilla known by that name at Zoo Atlanta. The previous Willie B. had died aged 3 shortly before the better-known successor was purchased. Both Willie B.'s had been purchased from international gorilla hunter Dr. Deets Pickett of Kansas City. The second Willie B. cost $5,500 to obtain for the zoo.
Willie B. was born in 1958 in Africa's western lowlands. In 1960, he was captured in Cameroon by animal dealer Dr. Deets Pickett of Kansas City, who would later sell him to Zoo Atlanta to replace their original gorilla at the request of Mayor Hartsfield. The gorilla quickly became popular with the zoo's visitors, with Hartsfield himself nominating the ape for congress.
For much of his captivity at Zoo Atlanta, Willie B. was kept in a glass-enclosed cage, with only a television and a tire swing to entertain himself with. The television was later stolen in 1979 just before that year's NFL playoffs. In a series of articles that were published to WellBeing International in 2023, former zoo director Terry L. Maple recounted his first experience with the gorilla:
In 1975, when I arrived in Atlanta to join the faculty of Emory University, I met Willie B. for the first time. He was approximately 17 years old. The thick iron bars and unbreakable glass barriers that confined him made him look like a felon. Of course, he was imprisoned through no fault of his own. He was clearly a victim, and I immediately felt sorry for him.
In 1984, several exotic animals died at Zoo Atlanta, causing a sudden wave of negative media coverage. As a result, the zoo failed an accreditation inspection by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo went into "crisis mode" after several publications picked up the story, with Parade naming it one of the worst zoos in the country. An Atlanta cover story said that "[m]ournfully wailing apes and restlessly pacing, bowlegged jungle cats housed in enclosures too small for your pet Siamese are just part of the problem”. With pressure from the media increasing, as well as Atlanta's citizens calling for the zoo's reform, mayor and civil rights activist Andrew Young worked to help the zoo improve its facilities. This included replacing former zoo director Steve Dobbs with Maple, who was a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology at the time.
When the zoo underwent renovations in the mid 1980s, special emphasis was placed on their gorillas due to Willie B.'s enclosure often being cited in negative reports. As a result, Ford Motor Company and the Yerkes Primate Research Center entered into a partnership to design a new exhibit for the zoo's gorillas. This exhibit, called the Ford African Rainforest exhibit, opened in 1988 and would replace Willie B.'s original enclosure. Eight additional lowland gorillas, provided by Yerkes, lived in the exhibit as well.
On May 13, 1988, nearly 25,000 people gathered to watch Willie B. enter his new outdoor habitat, an attendance that was previously unprecedented in the zoo's history.
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Willie B.
Willie B. (c. 1958 – February 2, 2000) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo of Atlanta for 39 years, from 1961 until his death on February 2, 2000. He was named after the former mayor of Atlanta, William Berry Hartsfield. Willie B. was kept in isolation for 27 years with only a television and a tire swing to keep him company. In 1988, he was moved to an outside exhibit and allowed to socialize and raise a family. He then embraced his role as silverback and leader of a troop.
Willie B. was the second gorilla known by that name at Zoo Atlanta. The previous Willie B. had died aged 3 shortly before the better-known successor was purchased. Both Willie B.'s had been purchased from international gorilla hunter Dr. Deets Pickett of Kansas City. The second Willie B. cost $5,500 to obtain for the zoo.
Willie B. was born in 1958 in Africa's western lowlands. In 1960, he was captured in Cameroon by animal dealer Dr. Deets Pickett of Kansas City, who would later sell him to Zoo Atlanta to replace their original gorilla at the request of Mayor Hartsfield. The gorilla quickly became popular with the zoo's visitors, with Hartsfield himself nominating the ape for congress.
For much of his captivity at Zoo Atlanta, Willie B. was kept in a glass-enclosed cage, with only a television and a tire swing to entertain himself with. The television was later stolen in 1979 just before that year's NFL playoffs. In a series of articles that were published to WellBeing International in 2023, former zoo director Terry L. Maple recounted his first experience with the gorilla:
In 1975, when I arrived in Atlanta to join the faculty of Emory University, I met Willie B. for the first time. He was approximately 17 years old. The thick iron bars and unbreakable glass barriers that confined him made him look like a felon. Of course, he was imprisoned through no fault of his own. He was clearly a victim, and I immediately felt sorry for him.
In 1984, several exotic animals died at Zoo Atlanta, causing a sudden wave of negative media coverage. As a result, the zoo failed an accreditation inspection by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo went into "crisis mode" after several publications picked up the story, with Parade naming it one of the worst zoos in the country. An Atlanta cover story said that "[m]ournfully wailing apes and restlessly pacing, bowlegged jungle cats housed in enclosures too small for your pet Siamese are just part of the problem”. With pressure from the media increasing, as well as Atlanta's citizens calling for the zoo's reform, mayor and civil rights activist Andrew Young worked to help the zoo improve its facilities. This included replacing former zoo director Steve Dobbs with Maple, who was a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology at the time.
When the zoo underwent renovations in the mid 1980s, special emphasis was placed on their gorillas due to Willie B.'s enclosure often being cited in negative reports. As a result, Ford Motor Company and the Yerkes Primate Research Center entered into a partnership to design a new exhibit for the zoo's gorillas. This exhibit, called the Ford African Rainforest exhibit, opened in 1988 and would replace Willie B.'s original enclosure. Eight additional lowland gorillas, provided by Yerkes, lived in the exhibit as well.
On May 13, 1988, nearly 25,000 people gathered to watch Willie B. enter his new outdoor habitat, an attendance that was previously unprecedented in the zoo's history.
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