King Nyani

King Nyani. A Mighty Ambassador for All Creatures Great and Small. Meet the King King Nyani is the largest bronze gorilla sculpture in the world, at 4,766 pounds and almost 23 feet long!. About the Artists King Nyani was created by Gillie and Marc Schattner, world-renowned public artists who have dedicated their lives to saving endangered species of wildlife. Their public art brings the hard facts about conservation and their love of these animals into the thoughts and hearts of the public. The inspiration for the interactive King Nyani sculpture was a wild silverback (male adult grilla) and his family of mountain gorillas in Uganda. The artists were moved to tears by the empathy and kindness exhibited by the powerful silverback as he interacted with his family. Gorillas, including the mountain gorilla subspecies, are critically endangered due to illegal poaching, civil unrest, deforestation, disease, climate change, and other threats. "Being able to sit in King Nyani's hand and look up at his gentle face, we hope the public will fall in love with him and join the movement to save the gorillas," said Gillie Schattner. Western Lowland Gorillas at Brookfield Zoo Brookfield Zoo is home to a strong, stable family group of western lowland gorillas. The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, is known throughout the world for its international role in animal population management and wildlife conservation. Brookfield Zoo is the first zoo in the world to be awarded the Humane Certified™ certification mark for the care and welfare of its animals. Nyani means "gorilla" in the Swahili language. As an institution accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Chicago Zoological Society actively participates in Species Survival Plans for many of our animals, including the western lowland gorilla. The cooperative population management and conservation programs manage the breeding of species to maintain healthy and self-sustaining populations that are genetically diverse and demographically stable. Money raised through the Chicago Zoological Society's Animal Care and Welfare Conservation Fund goes toward the Society's conservation research and education efforts at Brookfield Zoo and around the world.