Bobo the Gorilla--Facinating hunting/taxidermy/conservation/ zoological/natural history mystery solved.

Bobo's skull

The Burke Museum is displaying Bobo the gorilla's skull and jaw in the museum lobby Feb. 12 through April 25, 2010.

Bobo, the famous Woodland Park Zoo gorilla, was much beloved by the public and lived at the Woodland Park Zoo from 1953-1968. The Burke has a long-standing arrangement with the Woodland Park Zoo to provide a home for zoo animals that have died. After Bobo died, his skeletal remains were donated to the UW and became part of the mammal collection at the Burke. Bobo's taxidermied skin is also currently on display at the Museum of History and Industry.

Bobo's skeletal remains are of value to the Burke, as a natural history museum, for many reasons. Specifically, Bobo's bones hold a valuable record of the genetic signature of wild gorillas in 1951. His DNA could be compared with gorillas of today to answer questions about changes in gorilla populations or genetics. Also, UW students have used Bobo's skeleton for decades while studying human fossils, evolution, and paleontology.

The skull and jaw complete the skeleton in the museum collection.

On February 14, the Seattle Times' Pacific Northwest Magazine published an article revealing the mystery behind Bobo the gorilla's once-missing skull. Read the story here.

Bobo on display today.

In 1954 three Klineburger brothers -- Gene (b. 1920), Bert (b. 1926), and Chris (b. 1927) -- bought the Jonas Brothers taxidermy studio in Seattle and by the early 1960s turned it into one of the largest taxidermist studios in the world.

In the late 1940s Bert came to Seattle to serve an apprenticeship under Guy Jonas of Jonas Brothers in Seattle, and in 1951, Chris came to Seattle and joined Bert at Jonas Brothers.

In the early 1950s Jonas Brothers was already well established in the taxidermy field, having operated in Seattle since 1939 and in Denver for some years before that. In 1954 Gene joined Bert and Chris in Seattle and in July 1954 they bought the Jonas Brothers operation. The business maintained the Jonas name until the mid-1970s, when the Klineburger brothers changed the name to Klineburger Taxidermy.

By the early 1960s the company had become one of the world’s leading taxidermy studios. As part of their work the Klineburgers mounted all kinds of animals -- moose, lion, tigers, elephants, and various types of sheep, deer, bear, and antelope, just to name a few. Their clients included museums as well as personal hunters who wanted trophies to display in their homes.

They recognized the potential for further growth in developing sportsman wildlife programs which would bring in a bigger volume of hunters, and later, in developing conservation programs to properly manage the hunts.

One of the Klineburgers' more well-known jobs came in 1968 when they preserved Bobo the Gorilla after he passed away at the Woodland Park Zoo.