[4] This led to significant news coverage,[5][6][7] and an appearance on the season 2 premiere of the TV series Not Safe with Nikki Glaser.

Shabani was transferred to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia along with the rest of his family on 6 December 1996, when he was two months old.

[15] On 27 June 2007, Shabani and his brother Haoko were transferred to Japan as part of a coordinated breeding programme to ensure genetic diversity.

[16] While Shabani was transferred to Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, Haoko was sent to Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo.

[citation needed] Ai failed to properly take care of Annie and she was taken from the troop to be raised by the zoo staff.

There were bars between the rooms that allowed for close contact; Shabani and Kiyomasa spent the most time interacting with Annie.

When he first arrived in Nagoya the stress of the move and the experience of being among unfamiliar gorillas led him to acquire the nickname "tyrant" among the zoo staff.

[25] According to zoo spokesperson Takayuki Ishikawa, Shabani's paternal behaviour is among the characteristics that make him attractive to women: "He's a father and he always protects and looks over his children.

[30] On 27 September 2015, a video was posted on YouTube showing Shabani making another high jump to reach leaves on the wall.

[31] After Shabani started trending on Twitter, news reports about the "handsome gorilla" appeared in the international media, including CNN,[32] BBC,[4] The Daily Telegraph,[16] News.com.au,[33] and ET Online,[6] among others.

As a result of his popularity, the City of Nagoya, owner of the Higashiyama Zoo, registered the terms "Shabagni" and "Shabani" as trademarks on 23 September 2016.

As of October 2016, 150 items of merchandise related to Shabani and authorized goods such as towels, sweets and stationery have been produced.