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Biography

Gargantua (1929 - November 1949) was a captive western lowland gorilla famed for being exhibited by the Ringling Brothers circus. He has been credited with saving the business from bankruptcy. An acid scar on his face gave Gargantua a snarling, menacing expression, which the circus management exploited by generating publicity falsely exaggerating his purported 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 François Rabelais's giant character, to sound more frightening. He had a "mate" named Toto, but apparently never showed any interest in her.[1] She was, nevertheless, advertised by the circus as "Mrs. Gargantua".