By Desiree Salas (media@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Jun 29, 2015 08:36 AM EDT

Is the "dad bod" inspiring women to appreciate this gorilla's masculine physique?

A number of women in Japan has been observed to be going to the Higashiyama Zoo in droves to check out what they call the hottest looking gorilla on the planet.

"This brooding figure that has captured hearts all over Japan is Shabani, a Western Lowland Gorilla living at the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya," Rocket News 24 reported. "His piercing gaze has been noticed by fans who are calling him ikemen, or an extremely good-looking guy."

"Shabani has been living at Higashiyama since 2007, but only now is his popularity noticeably making a difference," the site added. "Many zoo officials have commented that Shabani has increased the number of young women visiting the zoo."

Shabani's rising popularity has been reportedly "fuelled largely by Twitter, where fans post pictures of him claiming he is 'too handsome,'" MailOnline said.

When asked about Shabani's rise to fame, zookeeper Allan Schmidt said that he's not surprised about it because "the Japanese are crazy."

"The Japanese love their fads," he added. "I would say most people would consider him fairly dashing."

Schmidt also said that Shabani is used to being the center of attention, as he had been photographed walking on a tightrope in the zoo back in 2007.

In addition, the famous gorilla is also "a good and responsible dad to his two young children" - a fact that did not escape his admirers, earning him yet another nickname: "ikumen," BBC said.

"Ikumen: Another slang word meaning 'a hands-on dad who looks after his children' - 'iku' being an abbreviation of the word 'iku-j' which means 'raising children,'" the news source explained.

As such, Shabani is also seen as "the perfect role model for the modern Japanese male."

The zoo's spokesperson, Takayushi Ishikawa, revealed to CNN that Shabani's popularity is "a perfect example of the Internet society."

"He seems to have noticed his new popularity, but he's kept it very cool," he added. And that probably earns the hunky gorilla more female attention.

MTV quoted Ishikawa as saying that Shabani is "more buff than most gorillas and he's at his peak physically."

Shabani was born in The Netherlands 18 years ago and moved to Australia's Taronga Zoo while still a baby gorilla. He was then sent to the Higashiyama Zoo as a gift in 2007.

According to the BBC, Shabani's age would put him in his late 30s in the human context.

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