In 1987, Ken Allen, a 230-pound teenage orangutan, escaped his enclosure at the San Diego Zoo.

It was the third time the curious ape had managed to breakout from his habitat. Ken Allen–or “Kenny” as some people called him—wasn’t a threat to humans. He was a passive and gentle animal, having been raised in captivity his entire life.

Each time he escaped, he didn’t get very far before he was caught. In fact, he’d sort of just hang around the area.

“The irony of it is that he doesn’t really want to leave. He breaks out, but he doesn’t go anywhere,” psychiatrist Dennis Gersten told the AP in the 1980s.

Zookeepers were stumped. This clever primate outsmarted them not once but three times. The zoo finally figured out Ken Allen’s escape route when professional rock-climbers found weaknesses in the wall. The zoo spent around $45,000 on repairs.

During this time, Ken Allen became a legend. Some people even called him a local folk hero. The newspapers dubbed him “Hairy Houdini.”

Ken Allen sweatshirts were sold. People were lining up to see him at the zoo.

One Reddit user describes Ken Allen’s lasting memory:

According to The Los Angeles Times, Dennis Gersten “suggested that Ken Allen represented the universal urge for freedom and wrote the Ballad of Ken Allen.”

The song goes: “He’s got a lifetime sentence for some monkeying around. He said no bars could hold him. Now that boy is jungle-bound.”

During the height of Ken Allen Mania, Reddit user Dibble86 allegedly captured this picture of the orangutan, flipping off the camera.

Reddit user Dibble86

In order to distract Ken Allen from his dreams of the outside world, zookeepers introduced him to a lady orangutan named “Vickie.” Ken Allen mated with Vickie, but his wanderlust wasn’t cured just yet.

Ken Allen taught Vickie how to use a branch in a similar way that humans use crowbars. According to zookeepers, he was teaching her how to escape with him.

Soon after, five of his peers escaped briefly most likely because of his influence.

Sadly, Ken Allen developed cancer and he was euthanized in the year 2000.

His revolutionary spirit, however, lives on to inspire captive animals everywhere.