Autopsied Gorilla Skull

myminifactory

The remains of Samson, a male gorilla captured in the wild over sixty years ago, are now a part of a remarkable story. Samson was originally housed at the Buffalo Zoo before being loaned to Chicago's Brookfield Zoo for breeding purposes in 1980. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he suffered a stroke and was put down in the spring of 1988. An autopsy revealed that he had a large tumor, which likely contributed to his untimely demise. Despite this tragic end, Samson's legacy lives on through his offspring. Two of his five children are still alive today: Kwizera, a female born just before her father's death in March 1988 and currently residing at the Memphis Zoo; and Kwisha, a male born in April 1988 at the Toledo Zoo. We are grateful to Dr. Robert Feranec of the New York State Museum for providing us with this fascinating information. The skull was scanned using a Go!Scan 50 on June 1, 2018, and is now part of museum specimen ZM 3922, courtesy of the New York State Museum. This object has been digitized by Virtual Curation Lab.