Gargantua (gorilla)

Gargantua (1929-1949) was a captive lowland gorilla who was famous in his lifetime and has been credited with saving the Ringling Brothers circus from bankruptcy. An acid scar on his face gave Gargantua a snarling, menacing expression, and the circus management attracted attention to him by emphasizing, in their publicity, his alleged hatred of humans. He was also claimed to be the largest gorilla in captivity.

Gargantua was captured as a baby in Africa, and was known as "Buddy" for years. After he was sold to Ringling Brothers by his previous owner, Gertrude Lintz, he was renamed after the literary character Gargantua for his large size (the literary Gargantua was a giant) and because the name sounded more frightening.

He had a "mate" named Toto, but apparently never showed any interest in her.cite news
author=
title=Recognition Scene
date=1941-03-03
work=Time Magazine
url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,851049,00.html
accessdate=2008-08-14] She was nevertheless advertised by the circus as "Mrs Gargantua".

The film "Buddy", starring Rene Russo, is very loosely based on the early life of Gargantua/Buddy and another of Mrs Lintz's gorillas, Massa.

Early life of Buddy

Gargantua was born wild in the Belgian Congo in approximately 1929. In the early-1930s, the gorilla was given to a Captain Arthur Phillips as a gift from missionaries in Africa. The captain was fond of him and called him "Buddy". [Some sources, including Mrs Gertrude Lintz, dispute this and claim that Mrs Lintz named him after "Buddha"] He was kept aboard his freighter and became popular with most of the crew. One sailor, however, drunk and seeking revenge on the captain's strictness, threw nitric acid in Buddy's face. This did not kill the gorilla but the attack almost blinded him and left both mental and physical scars - leading to much more aggressive behaviour.

Unable to deal with this aggression, the captain gave Buddy to Gertrude Lintz, a wealthy eccentric who looked after sick animals in Brooklyn. Her husband, Dr Bill Lintz, diagnosed Buddy with double pneumonia. ["Animals are my Hobby" by Gertrude Davies Lintz] Mrs Lintz treated the little gorilla back to health, including chewing his food for him, and along with her kennel-man, Richard "Dick" Kroener, trained and raised Buddy. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766550,00.html?iid=chix-sphere Dick & Buddy] , Time Magazine; Monday, May. 25, 1942; retrieved 17th July 2007] She cared for Buddy, and other apes, as her children and even arranged for plastic surgery on the scar, leaving Buddy with a permanent sneer. She was known to drive around Brooklyn with Buddy, dressed in clothes, in the passenger seat. This behaviour backfired, however, in 1937. Buddy, frightened by thunder, broke out of his cage and climbed into bed with his "mother" for comfort. Buddy was about convert|460|lb|abbr=on at this time. Mrs Lintz contacted John Ringling shortly thereafter. [http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/gargantua_the_great/ The Nonist] , retrieved 4th July 2007]

Circus attraction

Ringling bought Buddy from Mr Lintz (for less than $10,000 [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759533,00.html Time Magazine, 18th April 1938] , retrievd 4th July 2007] ) and renamed him "Gargantua" at his wife's suggestion. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, in financial problems after the Great Depression, heavily advertised their newest attraction. Their extravagant claims included:

*"The Largest Gorilla Ever Exhibited!"
*"The World's Most Terrifying Living Creature!"
*"The Largest and Fiercest Gorilla Ever Brought Before the Eyes of Civilised Man!"
*"The Only Full-Grown Gorilla Ever Seen On This Continent!"

Regardless of the truth of these slogans, Gargantua attracted millions and single-handedly saved the circus.

A special cage was built for Gargantua by The Crane Company. It was air-tight and air conditioned, designed to keep Gargantua in and the spectator's diseases out. [ [http://www.gargantuaphotos.com/historyofgargantua.html History of Gargantua] , retrieved 4th July 2007]

His first public appearance was in April 1938 and was recorded by Time Magazine: "Appearing as Display No. 14 on the 26-item program, Gargantua was hauled round & round the Garden in a heavily barred, thickly glassed, air-conditioned wagon drawn by six white horses. Stocky & truculent, he stared menacingly out of his cage, was characterized by Frank Buck as "the most ferocious, most terrifying and most dangerous of all living creatures." Gargantua stole the show. Gargantua's supposed aggression and violence were emphasised in the Circus' publicity. For example, Time Magazine also wrote this earlier in the same year: "Gargantua the Great, wrote Gargantuan Columnist Heywood Broun three weeks ago, "is the fiercest looking thing I have ever seen on two legs. And probably his power and truculence were all the more impressive because he did look a good deal like a distant relative. No one was allowed to go close to his cage, because Gargantua can reach about five feet through the bars and get a toe hold on a visitor whom he dislikes." Gargantua may not be the world's biggest captive gorilla—since the death of Berlin Zoo's monster, many zoos have claimed that honor for their gorillas—but he is one of the most vindictive. Last week the circus' executive vice president, young John Ringling North, nephew of the late John ("Three-Ring") Ringling, was inspecting the circus' Sarasota, Fla. winter quarters. Imprudently disregarding warning signs, he leaned against the bars of Gargantua's cage to rest. Gargantua reached through, got no toe hold but wrenched Circusman North's left arm into the cage, bit & wrung it until Trainer Richard Kroner, pounding the gorilla with an iron stake, distracted its slow attention." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931135,00.html Time Magazine, 28th February 1938] , retrieved 4th July 2007]

In 1941, he was paired with another gorilla, Toto (short for "Mitoto" or "M'Toto"), who was advertised as "Mrs Gargantua". Nothing ever came of the relationship, however, and both lived in separate cages.

Death

Gargantua died in November 1949 of double pneumonia. An autopsy performed at Johns Hopkins Hospital revealed that Gargantua had been suffering from several conditions at the time of his death, including skin disease and four impacted and rotten wisdom teeth. [ [http://www.yale.edu/opa/v34.n14/story15.html Yale Bulletin & Calendar] , December 16, 2005, Volume 34, Number 14; retrieved 17th July 2007]

His skeleton was donated to the Peabody Museum in 1950 [ [http://www.yale.edu/peabody/collections/vz/vzcoll_osteo.html Yale Peabody - Vertebrate Zoology - Osteological Collections] , retrieved 4th July 2007] but is now only displayed on special occasions. [ [http://www.newstimeslive.com/archives/story.php?id=77756&category=Local&kword=Gargantua&searchtype= New Times Live] , retrieved 4th July 2007]

Physical characteristics

Sources report Gargantua's weight variously as 550-600 lb. The seven-year old Gargantua was described as convert|460|lb|abbr=on when first displayed. Lowland Gorillas usually only reach convert|440|lb|abbr=on in the wild.

References

Further reading

*"Gargantua: Circus Star of the Century" by Gene Plowden (Random House, ISBN 0517136597)
*"Animals are my Hobby" by Gertrude Davies Lintz (Museum Press Limited, 1945, ASIN B0007JAIJC)

External links

* [http://www.gargantuaphotos.com/historyofgargantua.html Gangantua Photos] - History of Gargantua
* [http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/gargantua_the_great/ Gargantua the Great at The Nonist]
* [http://www.newstimeslive.com/archives/story.php?id=77756&category=Local&kword=Gargantua&searchtype= The News-Times: The Real King Kong]
* [http://monkeymaddness.com/apes_monkeys/bbm4.htm Extract from "Animals are my hobby"] at Apes & Monkeys
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=20549485 Find-A-Grave]