Random Details About Ken Allen Is An Orangutan Infamous For His Daring Escapes (15 items)

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  (#1) He Was A Repeat Offender

  Ken Allen was a male Bornean orangutan who lived in the San Diego Zoo from the 1970's until 2000. During his decades of captivity, he became notorious for escaping his enclosures at least nine times. All of this gained him not only legendary status, but the loving nickname "Hairy Houdini."
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  (#2) He Used Tools (And Guile) To Get Out Of His Cage

  Most of these escapes involved him carefully climbing out, despite electrical fencing, but he sometimes got more creative. Ken would use tools and even accomplices. When he did escape, he would sometimes just wait to be put back in, almost as if he just enjoyed the act of the escape
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  (#3) He Began His Escapes At A Young Age

  Given Ken Allen's interesting upbringing and childhood habits, it makes total sense he grew up to be an expert at escaping.

  He was born in captivity at the San Diego Zoo, and was named in honor of zookeepers Ken Willingham and Ben Allen. Sadly, his mother attempted to smother him when he was young, so he was kept in his own cage through much of his adolescent.

  It was later discovered that during this time, he would regularly unscrew the bolts of his cage and just wander around the nursery for fun. These were his first escapes, and he would generally go back to his cage before morning, and put it back together in the hopes that his keepers would be none the wiser. These youthful escapes were just the warmup round for what he would manage to pull off later.
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  (#4) He Was An Astounding Climber Despite Being 250lbs

  One thing that made Ken Allen so good at escaping were his amazing climbing skills, despite his large size. He may have been nearly 250 lbs, but he was still able to haul his body up walls that looked impossible to scale. Zoo officials described his climbs as being "like Spiderman."

  Eventually the zoo had to hire professional rock climbers to inspect the enclosure. They were instructed to find every single finger and toe hold possible, but even after that, Ken Allen still managed to find his way out. The zoo built moats, added four feet onto the walls, but those efforts weren't enough. When he had to, Ken Allen would find things like squeegees or other tools in order to help him get up the walls, proving he was just as unstoppable as the real Spiderman.
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  (#5) The Zoo Hired Professional Climbers To Try And Figure Out How He Was Escaping

  Eventually the zoo had to hire professional rock climbers to inspect the enclosure. They were instructed to find every single finger and toe hold possible, but even after that, Ken Allen still managed to find his way out. The zoo built moats, added four feet onto the walls, but those efforts weren't enough. When he had to, Ken Allen would find things like squeegees or other tools in order to help him get up the walls, proving he was just as unstoppable as the real Spiderman.
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  (#6) He Enjoyed Visiting The Other Zoo Animals

  Let's say you're an orangutan who just escaped his enclosure in the San Diego Zoo. What's the first thing you would do? Well, obviously it would be to take a tour of this world famous zoo! This was precisely what Ken Allen would do. He reportedly walked to different enclosures and looked at the other animals. He would stroll down walking paths, pausing for photos with tourists, and take in the sights before keepers eventually escorted him back to his pen.

  He didn't like all of his neighboring animals. During one escape, zookeepers found him in front of the enclosure of Otis, an orangutan he'd once shared a pen with. The two had not gotten along, and Ken was discovered hurling rocks at his former pen-mate. It seems that even an orangutan can hold a grudge.
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  (#7) He Gained A Massive Following

  When news of Ken Allen's escapes reached the general public, the zoo was thrilled. People flocked to San Diego just to see him, and before long, he had a fan club dubbed the "Orang Gang." This club created merchandise, ranging from bumper stickers to shirts reading "Free Ken Allen." They even created a member newsletter, titled The Orang Gang News.

  Although containing Ken Allen proved to be a major problem, the zoo sensed they had a potential superstar on their hands. They happily promoted the orangutan, and they made t-shirts featuring headlines about the primate, and even immortalized his name as a beer flavor. He remained a solid tourist attraction for the zoo even in his older age.
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  (#8) The Zoo Spent Thousands Of Dollars To Keep Him Enclosed

  With Ken Allen's continued proclivity for escapes, the San Diego Zoo realized they had to make special efforts to keep him behind bars. In addition to building extensive, costly modifications to his enclosures, they also ramped up security. Unfortunately, by this time Ken Allen could recognize zookeepers by their uniforms, and would time his escapes when they were not around. The workers resorted to wearing tourist disguises to thwart his attempts. 

  In the end, the zoo spent a total of $45,000 on security measures for Ken Allen alone. And even then, he still made escape attempts for most of his life.
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  (#9) He Would Steal Things From Zoo Workers

  When he couldn't manage to climb out of his pen using his strength, Ken Allen would resort to using tools. If he couldn't find a tool, he wasn't above stealing one.

  In one attempted escape, he stole a five-foot-long window squeegee and used it to climb over his enclosure's wall and get out. He once even managed to get his hands on a crowbar, which he used to pry open the window of his pen. For this reason, zoo workers were instructed to never leave anything in his pens, but it only made Ken Allen get more creative as he was not about to be deterred.
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  (#10) He Enlisted Other Orangutans For Help

  When he found escaping was too difficult to do alone, Ken Allen wasn't above getting some accomplices. One time Ken got ahold of a crowbar, and then tossed it to another orangutan near him who used it to pry open a window and let him out. The pen was repaired and security was beefed up, but this was not the last time he got help.

  Zookeepers tried to distract him from escaping by putting females in his enclosure, but they were just giving him better opportunities. He began teaching them how to escape, and after only a few months together, he managed to get two of the females to successfully help him escape. The two new accomplices, Jane and Kumang, followed him out of the exhibit and went for a stroll. Once all three had been captured, the zookeepers gave up the hope of using females to distract him.
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  (#11) He Was Afraid Of Water - But Even A Moat Couldn't Keep Him Contained

  There were few things in the world that seemed to irk Ken Allen aside from being enclosed. But one thing he definitely didn't like was water. Even from a young age, Ken displayed a fear of water, and zookeepers decided to use this to their advantage. In an attempt to keep him confined, they put in a moat around where he was kept, and that deterred him for awhile. But of course, that couldn't last forever.

  After two years without an attempt, a random chance allowed him to try his hand escaping once more. The water pump in his enclosure clogged, and the moat dried up. Before anyone noticed, Ken Allen happily walked across the now dry moat and pulled himself out of the pen for yet another zoo stroll.
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  (#12) He Inspired A Hit Song

  As news of the crafty orangutan spread, Ken Allen became something of a sensation. One person who took notice was San Diego psychiatrist Dennis Gersten. In 1985, he heard about the orangutan, wrote down a song about him in the span of about 10 minutes, and then went to a studio to record it. He named it the "Ballad of Ken Allen," and the jingle took off. It spoke of Ken's escapes, his life, and even his spiritual quest for freedom, and people in Southern California absolutely loved it. For several years, the single of was sold at the zoo, and the song was performed live on TV by Gersten himself. While it might sound rather dated now, you can still find the tune on YouTube.
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  (#13) He Was Never Violent Towards People

  When you think of a zoo escape, you probably think of it as being inherently dangerous, but this was not the case for Ken Allen's breakouts. Whenever he escaped, he was never harmful towards the zoo's visitors, and actually seemed to like their company. He would pose for photos during his strolls, and would stand with them as if he was human. When his keepers came to retrieve him, he would be amiable about the whole situation. The only times he seemed aggressive were in situations with other orangutans, and that was incredibly rare.

  He only ran from his keepers once. In that situation, he was in an area he had never been before and zookeepers said his actions were from nervousness, not aggression. Hilariously enough, while he ran, a nearby crowd cheered for him.
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  (#14) The Perth Zoo Had Similar Escapes

  As it turns out, Ken Allen isn't the only orangutan who is a bit of an escape artist.

  In 2015, a young Sumatran orangutan named Teliti managed to escape her enclosure in Perth, Australia. Following in Ken's footsteps, she went for a little stroll down the walkways while delighting and frightening zoo visitors. She remained peaceful while testing out some nearby monkey bars and swinging on fences. Zookeepers safely ushered her back into her enclosure. 

  Coincidentally, Perth had another escape in 2017 when a mother and child orangutan successfully got out from their enclosure. The younger primate fell out of the exhibit, and his mother rushed to his aid, then the two took a walk around the area before voluntarily returning to their pens. One can't help but wonder if Teliti gave them a few pointers.
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  (#15) He Was Memorialized After His Death

  It was a sad day for fans everywhere when Ken Allen passed away on December 2, 2000. He was only 29 when he had been diagnosed with cancer and was ultimately euthanized to put an end to his suffering. The Orang Gang kept a candlelight vigil for him throughout his struggle, and after his passing the zoo along with his fans mourned the loss of this remarkable primate.

  Zoo employees decided he must never be forgotten. To this day, if you visit the San Diego Zoo, you can find a reddish monument dedicated to Ken Allen. It tells of his story, his life, and his fame as an escape artist to all that pass by. The zoo website also maintains a page dedicated to the late orangutan.

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