

GradeSaver, 16 March 2023 Web.The One and Only Ivan is based on the true story of a gorilla named Ivan, who was captured from the Democratic Republic of Congo and spent 27 years living in a cage in a mall before he was moved to Zoo Atlanta in 1994. Next Section Literary Elements Previous Section Imagery Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format GradeSaver "The One and Only Ivan The True Story of Ivan the Gorilla". In the dense forests where Ivan was born, poaching and disease have continued to reduce the western lowland gorilla’s population numbers by more than 60% in the past two decades. Ivan the gorilla died in the summer of 2012 at the age of fifty. Though he was introduced to female mates, Ivan never conceived offspring. In Atlanta, Ivan, for the first time in nearly thirty years, experienced the outdoors. The next year he was transferred to Zoo Atlanta, which had developed a reputation for successfully breeding captive gorillas. In 1994, the mall owner donated Ivan to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo.

Meanwhile, the mall was facing bankruptcy. In the early nineties, a National Geographic special feature about Ivan led to public outcry. He was moved to an enclosure at the department store.įor the next two decades, Ivan was a star attraction for the mall. However, by the age of five, Ivan grew too large to live in a human's home. During the transportation, Ivan's sister died. After being brought to the United States, Ivan and his sibling were sold to the owners of a department store in Tacoma, Washington. Although The One and Only Ivanis a fictional story, some characters and events from the novel are based on the true story of a gorilla named Ivan.īorn in 1962, Ivan was a western lowland gorilla who, along with his sibling, was captured from the wilds of the Democratic Republic of Congo while still in infancy.
