Staff at a Texas zoo learned that online elections can be tricky, as they watched students and alumni from a Southeast Kansas university hijack a contest to name one of the zoo’s newest residents.

After a viral social media campaign, the Fort Worth, Texas Zoo on March 10 named the first gorilla born there in captivity “Augustus,” or “Gus” for short.

“Gus” is the official name of the Pittsburg, Kansas State University gorilla mascot; the name is also used for its student email and online systems.

The zoo originally had 500 names suggested after the baby gorilla was born, and narrowed it to four finalists:

• “Davy,” as in Crockett, hero of the Alamo in San Antonio.

• “Grover,” another “Sesame Street” character, out of respect for the father, “Elmo.”

• “Mosi,” which means “first born” in Swahili, an East African language.

• “Augustus” or “Gus,” in honor of Gus McCrae, a character in “Lonesome Dove.”

‘Let’s do this’

When the election began, Jerry Koehler, of Denton, Texas, sent word of the election to Brett Dalton, coordinator of web content and social media at the Kansas university.

“On the way to work, I heard a news blip about the election on the radio, and thought right away of Pitt State,” Koehler said.

“I called up my wife and said ‘Let’s do this.’ I was pretty confident that if the university could get it out there, we’d win.”

Dalton thought it might be fun for followers of Pittsburg State University social media portals to vote in the election.

Among the four options, “Gus” trailed by more than 500 votes when Dalton shared the poll. Within hours, Pittsburg State fans tied it. As Dalton walked into his office the next morning, “Gus” had taken over.

“We just watched what happened, which was hysterical for us,” said Alexis Wilson, communications director at the zoo. “We had votes at the zoo and on Facebook and Twitter. When it started out of the four choices, a different name led in each (format) of the race … then social media just kinda blew up. It was so fun.”

The university then backed the “Gus” campaign officially and a landslide in its favor ensued. Most voters for “Gus” were not Fort Worth residents, according to the zoo.

“It was incredible to see how our social media followers jumped on this,” Dalton said.

Visitors to the zoo also got a vote, but when the final tallies were in, it was Facebook and Twitter that played the deciding role. Gus received 1,793 votes on Facebook, compared with Grover (986), Mosi (778) and Crockett (253). Twitter results were similar, Wilson said.

Dalton said: “Things like this are reminders of how many people you can reach with a single post, but we’ve also had this kind of success because of the dedication of our community.”

‘Pack your bags’

Amanda Allen, a Pittsburg State alumna and her sister, Mychal Peterson, a senior in communication, used the University’s spring break from March 11-15 to travel to Fort Worth, just to see newly named baby Gus.

Traveling with Amanda’s husband, Lucas, and their three children, the group spent an entire day at the zoo.

Allen, who lives in Burlington, Kansas, said the Pittsburg State gear she and her family members wore during their trip to the zoo made waves during the visit.

“We were there before the gate opened, and all the workers immediately recognized us,” she said. “Some saw the gorilla (the red and yellow PSU logo) and thought they should tell us what happened, but we’re like, ‘We know, that’s why we’re here.’ We made sure Gus would be our first and last stops. We had a great time.”

Wilson said an uptick of people visiting the zoo who clearly attend or support Pittsburg State has been noticed.

The young primate, delivered on Dec. 5 is the child of “Gracie” and the zoo’s silverback, “Elmo.” Counting Gus, this is the fifth of the Fort Worth gorilla troop at the zoo; more young apes are expected.

Clem is a reporter at The Joplin, Missouri Globe.