The gorilla Bokito was born in the Berlin zoo on March 14, 1996. Mother M’ Penzi cared for Bokito insufficiently, and he was therefore raised by humans.

On May 18, 2007, he escaped from his enclosure in the Blijdorp zoo by jumping over a 4.5-meter-wide ditch and subsequently injured a woman who visited the gorilla four times a week and always tried to make contact with the ape.

Gorillas are seriously threatened in their survival by poachers (bushmeat), the Ebola virus, and the loss of their habitat. In 2022, it was estimated that only about 330,000 gorillas live in the wild.