Visitors flock to see 'good looking' gorilla at Japan zoo
A gorilla in a Japanese zoo has achieved unusual levels of fame thanks to his 'good looks'.
Shabani the gorilla was raised at Taronga Zoo in Sydney but now lives in Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, Japan and has done since 2007.
The 18-year-old gorilla has been described as being "very attractive" and having "brooding good looks", Sky reports.
The western lowland gorilla has become a social media sensation and women have been flocking to his enclosure to see him.
The hefty gorilla weighs in at 180kg or 400lbs and has been at the zoo for the past eight years.
Earlier in the year Shabani was made the campaign model for the zoo's spring festival which may have kickstarted his legion of adoring fans.
Takayuki Ishikawa, a spokesman for the zoo, said: "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."
It's not the first time that the globe-trotting gorilla has hit the headlines. Shabani, who was born in the Netherlands before being moved to Australia and then Japan, was seen walking a tightrope in his enclosure in 2007.
Allen Schmidt is a senior zookeeper at Taronga Zoo and said: "I would say most people would consider him fairly dashing."
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