Summer 2011 was all about gorillas in Bristol, and tonight they bade farewell to the city, the 61 sculptures being sold at the Victoria Rooms in Clifton for a grand total of £427,300, raising money for both Bristol Zoo’s conservation projects and Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal.

Held together by auctioneer Andrew Morgan from Hollis Morgan, the Victoria Rooms was standing room only as one by one, the gorillas who graced the streets of Bristol for two months went to their new homes.

Unsurprisingly, the top performer on the night was Gorisambard (right), who after a fierce bidding war was sold for £23,000. That was more than twice the amount of the next best performers, Still Life Alfred at £11,500 and Elvis at £10,200.

Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies even made an appearance at the auction, buying Distinctly Different, who was positioned by the Cascade Steps on the centre, for the sum of £7,500.

When gorillas were being contested, it was like watching tennis, necks craning back and forth as the competing parties in turn put their paddle in the air before, defeated, the paddle remained lowered and the winners’ details were collected to a very British round of applause.

More than polite applause was reserved for the gorillas who particularly caught the Bristol public’s imagination. Gorillas like Elvis, stationed in the bus station, the first to hit five figures; Blackbeardorilla (£9,000), my own personal favourite; and Alfred (£7,000) and Irene (£6,000), the gorillas sponsored by Bristol’s two football clubs.

When a gorilla was being fought over by several bidders, the room took sides, each section supporting the bidder nearest them, until the weak dropped out and it was left to those with the deepest pockets and the most space in their garden or home to continue waving those paddles.

As the bidders were anonymous, it is not yet known where the gorillas will end up. Super G Downhill Racer (£5,600), however, will definitely be staying in Bristol after several members of staff at Bristol City Council chipped in to ensure it remains on display to the public, perhaps at St Nic’s Market where it was originally on show.

When the money was rising steeply for Gorisambard, three photographers moved back and forth in unison as bidders at the front and back of the room traded winning amounts until the woman sat at the back was lit up in a burst of flashbulbs and was almost an average UK annual salary poorer for the sake of buying a gorilla in a stovepipe hat.

So goodbye gorillas. It’s been emotional. Huge congratulations should be paid to everybody involved in this fantastic project, and it’s superb that such a huge amount of money was raised at their farewell appearance.