In 1960, he was captured by an animal dealer in Kansas City and brought to Grant Park Zoo in 1961 to replace another gorilla named Willie B. He was born in 1958 in Africa’s western lowlands. got his name from Atlanta Mayor William Berry Hartsfield. was a gorilla at Zoo Atlanta, but he was much more to those who grew up in Atlanta. was a symbol of consistency and a source of comfort, who saw the city through the highs, lows, and growing pains it had to endure to become the international city it is today. The 400-hundred pound, 6-foot-tall silverback gorilla, lived through many pivotal events in Atlanta’s history-From the Civil Rights Movement and funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the establishment of the Atlanta Pride Festival, the Atlanta Child Murders, Freaknik, and the 1 996 Centennial Olympic Games.Īnd like a faithful friend, Willie B. died of heart failure in 2000 at the age of 42, a piece of Atlanta died.
(VIS 71.75.05, Floyd Jillson, Floyd Jillson Photographs, Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center) View of the silverback gorilla known as “Willie B.” at the Municipal Zoo (now Zoo Atlanta) in the Grant Park area of Atlanta.
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