Gorilla Move Brookfield 4-8-80
A gorilla is moved at the Brookfield Zoo on April 8, 1980.
This film captures the scene as five Brookfield Zoo staff members move a drugged gorilla, likely Sampson, into a new cage where they perform a medical examination. Another gorilla watches attentively from an adjacent cage. The film concludes with a shot of a pickup truck’s hood that is labeled Brookfield Zoo.
This film was shot just after 19-year old gorilla Sampson was relocated from the Buffalo New York Zoo to Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo in the hopes that he and another 19-year old gorilla and Brookfield resident Alpha would mate. Sampson’s breeding loan eventually brought about one baby gorilla born to Alpha and one born to Alpha's daughter, Babs. Sampson was declared Brookfield Zoo’s 1982 father of the year. Featured staff includes veterinarian technician Richard Spevak.