Bristol Zoo’s Wow! Gorillas project goes global this weekend with the zoo’s logo appearing on the nosecone of a Formula One racing car taking part in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Marussia Virgin Racing’s team car, driven by Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio, will be emblazoned with the logo when it competes on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit watched by thousands of racegoers and hundreds of millions of TV viewers worldwide.
The high profile opportunity to promote the gorilla conservation project to a global audience has come through private equity house LDC, part of the Lloyds Banking Group.
LDC sponsors the car’s nose and donated the space to the zoo after learning about the project.
To celebrate, staff from LDC and Marussia Virgin Racing visited Bristol Zoo this week to meet staff and have a tour.
LDC, which has sponsored Wow! Gorilla statue Jama in Temple Square, also met one of the zoo’s gorilla keepers to find out more about its family of six Western lowland gorillas.
Richard Clarke, chairman of trustees for Bristol Zoo Gardens, said: “Being offered the space on a Formula One car for the zoo logo and Wow! Gorillas logos is a fantastic opportunity and our will raise the profile of the project to a worldwide audience.
“We are very grateful to LDC for giving us this opportunity and we are all looking forward to seeing the car in the Grand Prix this weekend.”
LDC chief executive officer and Marussia Virgin Racing chairman Darryl Eales added: “Bristol Zoo’s Wow! Gorillas project is a great initiative to help protect one of the world’s most awe-inspiring and best loved species. We are very proud to be able to help dramatically raise the awareness of Wow! Gorillas by sponsoring its logo on the Marussia Virgin Racing car in Formula One, which is one of the most popular global sports and has a worldwide audience of over 500 million.”
The project is the highlight of the zoo’s 175th anniversary celebrations. Sixty-one life-size gorilla statues have been placed around the city in a mass public art trail, which ends of September 5.
There will be one last opportunity to see all the gorilla statues in one place when they visit Bristol Zoo for a ‘Goodbye Gorillas’ event between September 24 and 28.
The following day the iconic sculptures will be sold at a prestigious charity auction to raise money for gorilla conservation projects and Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal for Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Tickets, priced at £10, are available from www.bristolzoo.org.uk/wow-gorillas or by phoning 0117 9747 300.
