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All the United States California Irvine Peter the Anteater Statue
AO Edited

Peter the Anteater Statue

This bronze statue commemorates the strange and beloved mascot of UC Irvine—the only university to be represented by a giant anteater.

Irvine, California

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Andre LeBrun
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Peter the Anteater   Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Another statue of Peter   Brian Sterling / CC BY-SA 2.0
Another Peter, this one with sunglasses and a laptop   alebrun / Atlas Obscura User
A real giant anteater   Esin Üstün / CC BY-SA 2.0
A street sign on the campus of UCI.   Mathieu Marquer
Water Tower UCI   Aceomrelliug
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About

The University of California, Irvine, is home to many things, but one of its most famous attributes is also one of its strangest: It holds the unique distinction of being the only university in the world with an anteater for a mascot.

Peter the Anteater became UCI's mascot in 1965 after of a vote by the student body in which the anteater won 56 percent of the vote, beating out the likes of roadrunners, unicorns, and centaurs. The anteater's victory came as a result of a student-run campaign, in which the cartoon anteater from the comic strip "B.C." was suggested (one holdover from the comic strip: the sound effect for when an anteater catches an ant, "ZOT!", became a common chant at sports events).

There are actually a half-dozen different Peter statues distributed around the campus, each with its own unique take on the ant-loving mammal. The one pictured above, standing outside of the Bren Events Center, is one of the most popular, and is dressed up in a cap and gown each year to celebrate graduation. There are, however, several others clustered around the Student Center, including an anthropomorphized Peter lounging on a bench, decked out in sunglasses and beach attire, and another standing nearby.

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alebrun

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SEANETTA, Michelle Cassidy, jlord7

  • SEANETTA
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • jlord7

Published

November 15, 2022

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  • https://news.uci.edu/2015/11/17/the-making-of-a-mascot/
  • https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2022-07-07/heres-true-story-about-how-uc-irvine-got-nickname-anteaters
Peter the Anteater Statue
2691 Mesa Rd
Irvine, California, 92697
United States
33.649207, -117.849459
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