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A tribute to Zoo Atlanta’s friend of almost 20 years. Ivan died on Aug. 21, 2012 at the age 50. Born in 1962 in what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, he was sold the owners of a shopping mall in Tacoma, Wash., where he spent 27 years on display behind glass. Facing mounting pressures from the zoological and animal rights communities, Ivan’s owners donated the then 32-year-old gorilla to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo in 1994. This photo of Ivan was taken in the spring of 2012 just a few months before he passed on to the jungle in the great beyond. Zoo Atlanta will host a memorial for Ivan on Saturday, Sept. 8.