Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D163776-10C
Date(s)
- 1973-09-05 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Ivan, the shopping mall gorilla, stared pensively into the camera from his cage at the B&I Circus Store in September of 1973. Ivan, a Western Lowland gorilla (now an endangered species), had lived in this 14 x 14 cage since 1967. B&I owner Earl (E.L.) Irwin had bought Ivan from an animal trader in the Congo in 1964. Irwin, a master showman, intended to use Ivan to draw crowds to the store. Ivan lived up to his part. From 1967-1994, people came to the B&I to visit with Ivan. As attitudes towards captive animals changed with the times, a "free Ivan" movement developed. After much contention, the Irwin family donated Ivan to the Woodland Park Zoo in 1994. They in turn loaned him permanently to the Atlanta Zoo, where he died on Monday, August 20, 2012
Gorillas; B&I Circus Store (Tacoma);