File:Shabani.jpg

Shabani (Japanese: シャバーニ, romanized: Shabāni) is a male western lowland gorilla, who was born at the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands, raised in Australia and currently resides at the Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, Japan.[1] He gained publicity in 2007 at Higashiyama Zoo when he was 10 years old by tightrope walking.[2]

He gained added fame in 2015, due to being considered 'handsome', 'sexy', 'photogenic'[3] and 'metrosexual'.[4] This led to coverage in news[5][6][7] and his being featured on the season 2 premiere of the TV series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser.

His residence caused a notable increase in younger female attendance at his zoo.[8][9] There is a DVD film dedicated to him[10] and he became the mascot for a candy line.[11]

He was also used in a worker recruitment campaign by the city of Nagoya in January 2016.[12][13]