Kenneth Allen (February 13, 1971 – December 1, 2000) was a

Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is an orangutan species endemic to the island of Borneo. It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia and is the largest of the three ''Pongo'' species. It has a coarse, reddish coat and up ...

at the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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. He became one of the most popular animals in the zoo's history because of his many successful escapes from his enclosures. He was nicknamed "The Hairy

Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

". Ken Allen was born in captivity at the San Diego Zoo in 1971. In 1985, he gained worldwide attention for a series of escapes from his enclosure, which had been thought to be escape-proof. During some of his escapes, his female companions joined him. Ken Allen's ability to outwit his keepers and his docile demeanor during his escapes resulted in fame. He had his own fan club and was the subject of T-shirts and bumper stickers (most reading "Free Ken Allen"). A song about his escapades, "The Ballad of Ken Allen", was written by Dennis Gersten. Ken Allen developed B-cell

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

and was euthanized on December 1, 2000. He was 29 years old.

Escapes

In his book about animal resistance, author Jason Hribal writes that Ken Allen "would unscrew every nut that he could find and remove the bolts" in his zoo nursery. In 1985, during his escapes on June 13, July 29, and August 13, Ken Allen peacefully strolled around the zoo looking at other animals. Ken Allen never acted violently or aggressively towards zoo patrons or animals except for another orangutan called Otis, whom he despised. During his second escape, he was caught stoning Otis and had to be led back to his enclosure. After the attack, the zoo temporarily placed him in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

. Zookeepers were initially stumped over how Ken Allen escaped. Staff began

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

of his enclosure to try to catch him in the act, only to find that he seemed to be aware that he was being watched. Prior to the August 13 escape, he was seen with a crowbar in his enclosure but tossed it aside—as if uninterested—when a staff member walked by. The zookeepers decided to go "undercover," posing as tourists to learn Ken Allen's escape route, but the ape was not fooled and continued to evolve his tactics. In April 1986, he escaped when the moat inside his enclosure was being repaired. After each escape, Ken Allen would be placed in solitary confinement until zoo staff figured out ways to prevent future escapes. Yet Ken Allen persisted, despite consequences—including encountering electrical fencing on an escape attempt in 1986. Moreover, other orangutans followed Ken Allen's lead and escaped. In 1987, zoo officials hired experienced rock climbers to find every finger-, toe- and foothold within the enclosure, spending $40,000 to eliminate the identified holds. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' in 2013 listed Ken Allen's story as one of the "Top Eleven Zoo Escapes".

References

External links

TV news clips
about Ken Allen from

KFMB-TV KFMB-TV (channel 8) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., it has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego, and its transmitter i ...

{{San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance 1971 animal births 2000 animal deaths Animal deaths by euthanasia Individual orangutans Individual primates in the United States Missing or escaped animals San Diego Zoo

Escapes

See also

References

Further reading

External links