Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gorilla Ivan Has A Girlfriend But The Former Tacoma Simian Still Has A Lot To Learn About Love

Associated Press

Love doesn’t come easy for Ivan the gorilla.

Three years have passed since the solitary simian left for Zoo Atlanta.

He hasn’t mated yet, but experts say there’s still a chance he may get the hang of romance.

“We have not abandoned hope for Ivan,” said Michael Hoff, a Dalton College primate biologist who has been tracking the gorilla’s adjustment. “As long as we continue to see progress, even if it’s small steps, we’re not giving up.”

Before his move - Saturday marked the three-year anniversary - the lowland gorilla had spent most of his 30-some years alone in a cage at Tacoma’s B&I Shopping Center.

Now he lives in a jungle-like outdoor compound with two female companions, Kinyani and Shamba.

Zoo officials say Ivan seems to have taken a fancy to Kinyani, who hasn’t been shy about showing affection. He allows Kinyani to sit near him, and even to sleep in the same room with him at night.

The svelte female is the first gorilla Ivan has allowed to touch him. And on a few occasions, he has even reached out for her, said Charles Horton, Zoo Atlanta’s head gorilla keeper.

Although female gorillas are generally the sexual aggressors, Kinyani is more brazen than most.

“A few months ago, she almost sat in his lap,” Hoff said.

Another time, when a group from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo was getting a look at Atlanta’s gorilla habitats, Kinyani repeated her advances. “The folks from Seattle saw that he’s getting some really good offers,” Horton said. “She’s really enamored with him.”

When Kinyani is prancing around in front of him, Ivan seems to realize that something seductive is going on, Hoff said. But he doesn’t quite know what to do about it.

“If we have any gorilla that will finally give him an idea, it will be Kinyani,” Hoff said. “It may literally require her sitting in his lap before he says, ‘Hey, what’s that?”’