I'm currently reading Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger Volume III. On page 93 he mentions the following story:
In the August-September 1994 issue of the Fortean Times, I read about an alleged "madman" in Uganda, who certainly belongs in this book. I do not know if the Fortean Times editors themselves want to label this creative and imaginative chap "mad" or just picked up the term while condensing and paraphrasing a story about his exploits which they cite from the Coventry Evening Telegraph, 24 February 1994. Anyway, "mad," "eccentric" or just a unique case of artistic enthusiasm combined with insensitivity, this Ugandan has a truly original hobby.
He goes about in the jungle, you see, with a tranquilizer gun. When he spots a gorilla, he fires — pow! (Have you ever gotten hit with one of those things? Imagine what it feels like ….) The gorilla sinks to the jungle floor, "out like a light" — just like you or me after too many Irish whiskeys — and the culprit then inflicts his own divine imagination upon the helpless creatures. He dresses them in clown suits before they can wake up and object to this undignified proceeding. Then he blithely skips off through the under-brush to lie low for a while before seeking further "subjects" (or victims) for his strange art.
So far the game wardens haven't caught him. I know some Animal Rights activists in California who would gladly tar and feather him and then hang him by the neck. His "art," if we must call it that, offends New Age sensibilities even more than wearing animal hides or skins as clothing.
On 16 February 1995 I heard on KPIG (107.5) that this ritual or artwork continues. The gorillas cannot remove the clown suits unaided, and the wardens do re-tranquilize and unclown them. "We are dealing with a very sick mind," the chief warden told reporters.
I searched for the story on Google and found it on a few old websites, but nothing from a trustworthy source. The British Newspaper Archive has a searchable database of articles from The Coventry Evening Telegraph from 1891-1999, but it is missing the year 1994, which is when the article allegedly ran.
I did find a discussion from 2014 about Wilson's mention of the dubious beclowned story from 2014 on the Principia Discordia Forum. The members expressed uncertainty and skepticism about the veracity of the story, leaning toward the story being either an outright hoax or a misrepresentation of a more serious political incident. They also discussed the possibility that Wilson included the story to challenge readers' beliefs and encourage critical thinking about the information they consume.
My guess is that Wilson thought the story was fnord "too good to check."
See also: Robert Anton Wilson: January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007
