The Revealed

The Revealed project with the subtitle Slightly different reality show is project of Český rozhlas, Prague Zoo and telecommunication company Visual Connection. It is based on reality shows like Big Brother. The difference is that contestants are not humans but western lowland gorillas from the Prague Zoo.

The main goal is to show behaviour of gorillas living in captivity. Viewers could have seen gorillas eating, sleeping, playing, socializing, solving special brain-teasers and even giving birth.

Kijivu and Tatu

History

The project started on 7 November 2005. Český rozhlas installed 16 cameras in the gorilla pavilion housing in the Prague Zoo and live webcasts have been presented on the website of the project. People could observe the gorillas 24/7 and vote for their favourite one by texting. On 15 January 2006 the winner, fifteen years old male Richard, won 12 melons as a pun on Czech slang that uses the word melons instead of millions when speaking about large sum of money. Originally, the show should have lasted for 3 months but it has become so popular that its producers decided to continue and it has been running till today.

Richard

Gorillas

Richard: male, * 9 November 1991 in the Frankfurt Zoological Garden
Kamba (Liana): female, * 1972 in Africa
Shinda (Victoria): female, * 14 June 1991 in Apenheul
Kijivu (Grey): female, * 18 March 1993 in Apenheul
Moja (One): female, * 13 December 2004 in the Prague Zoo, daughter of Richard and Kijivu, sister of Tatu and Kiburi, the first gorilla born in the Prague Zoo
Tatu (Third): male, * 30 May 2007 in the Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja and Kiburi. Died 27 July 2012 due to accidental hanging.
Kiburi (Proud): male, * 24 April 2010 in the Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja and Tatu
Nuru: male, 22 December 2012 in the Prague Zoo, son of Richard and Kijivu, brother of Moja, Tatu, and Kiburi.

Multimedia

The Revealed show is multimedia project. Cuts of all the webcasts from the beginning until today commented by a gorilla zookeeper, primatologists, ethologists and other specialists, podcasts and articles about the project are preserved and accessible on the website of the project. It is also possible to chat in online discussions or have own blog on the website. One of the blogs belongs to the gorilla zookeeper. He answers there all the questions about the life of gorillas asked by visitors of the website. Online games and an interactive map of the gorilla house are available too.

Awards

DVD based on the show was awarded the Comenius-EduMedia 2007 award by Gesellschaft für Pädagogik und Information. It was also awarded the Panda Award at Wildscreen Festival (in the category ARKive interactive award) in 2006.

Moja

The website of the project was fourth at Prix Europa (in the category Internet Project of the Year 2006).

Marketing success

Although the project was primarily a parody of human reality shows and an educational programme it has also become an effective internet marketing strategy. Thanks to its original idea it has attracted attention of many people and brought publicity to the Prague Zoo. News channels and news service as BBC, Fox News Channel, NBC News, Yahoo! News, Reuters and Agence France-Presse informed people all around the world about this project.

The project has brought in new visitors as watching the gorillas online entices people to come to the Zoo and see them live. Website of Český rozhlas has registered increased number of hits too.

Creators of the show has used its publicity to caution about the problem of gorillas being critically endangered species. Money earned by selling gorilla T-shirts, books, CDs, DVDs, postcards and puzzles in an online shop, money raised from SMS sent by gorilla fans and money gained in a charitable online auction of paintings and photos of the Prague gorillas has been used to help wild gorillas in Africa. News about the supported gorillas in Africa are also presented on the website of The Revealed.

References

Article about The Revealed on BBC News Retrieved May 18, 2008.
Article about The Revealed on NEWS.com.au Retrieved May 18, 2008.

External links

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