[1] Mendi made his performing debut in May 1946 at the Detroit Zoo's chimpanzee theater.

[3] On the zoo's "opening Sunday", Mendi was credited with attracting a record crowd estimated at 45,000 persons.

[4] With his talents for riding a bike, roller skating, and walking the tight rope, Mendi became the zoo's star attraction.

[1] In 1966, it was reported that he had special quarters in the zoo's Great Ape House, where "like any old vaudevillian [he] 'hams it up' when he can get an audience.

"[13] Zoo director McInnis vowed to maintain a place for Mendi as long as he lived, noting: "If Yankee Stadium was the house that Ruth built, our Chimp Theater owes it all to Jo.