From Bristol24-7 www..bristol247.com
Bristol Zoo’s 61 Wow! Gorillas sculptures that stood around the city this summer will be sold at auction tonight with organisers hoping to raise £100,000 for charity.
The sale, at the Victoria Rooms in Clifton, will be broadcast live via a webcam with a live blog that the public can follow and contribute to. There will also be a game allowing participants to vote for how much they think each gorilla will fetch with a first prize of a family ticket to the zoo.
The webcam and blog start at 7.30pm, the same time as the auction, which will raise funds for Bristol Zoo’s gorilla conservation projects and Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
Organisers believe a bid of £1,500 should be enough to secure one of the 61 gorillas – but bids could be much higher.
Auctioneer Andrew Morgan said: “These wonderful gorillas have been a spectacular success and I am delighted and honoured to be asked to auction them. Anyone lucky enough to acquire one will not only be directly supporting two excellent charities but will be acquiring a lasting and valuable work of art.”
The 101 small gorillas which have also appeared around the city this summer will be returned to the schools and nurseries which sponsored and decorated them.
Bristol Zoo director Dr Bryan Carroll said: “Wow! Gorillas has been enjoyed by so many residents from Bristol and beyond this summer and I’m sure many people will miss seeing them around Bristol.
“However the auction will raise vital funds for our gorilla conservation projects, as well as Wallace & Gromit’s Echocardiogram Appeal.”
Bristol Zoo is also holding a raffle offering the chance to win limited edition Wow! Gorillas prizes. First prize is an unpainted, small gorilla, the same size as the schools’ gorillas.
Second prize is a small piece of a Formula One Marussia Virgin racing car engine in a presentation display box. Earlier this summer the Wow! Gorillas logo featured on the nosecone of the Marussia Virgin Racing Formula One team car at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Third prize is a limited edition, small ceramic Wow! Gorilla, painted in the style of one of the 61 Wow! Gorilla designs.
Raffle tickets cost £1 each and are available from the zoo until October 28, when the winners will be drawn. Tickets are also available online at www.bristolzoo.org.uk/win-a-wow-gorilla.
The auction deadline for proxy and phone bidders is 1pm today. For more information, or to register contact Judy Tucker at jtucker@bristolzoo.org.uk or 0117 974 7329.
