Fatou, known to be the world's oldest female gorilla, feeds on a kiwi she picked out of a basket that she was given in her outdoor enclosure one day ahead of her 67th birthday at the Berlin Zoological Gardens, Berlin, Germany, on April 12, 2024. (Photo by John MacDougall / AFP)
BERLIN: Berlin's zoo is celebrating the 67th birthday of Fatou the gorilla, its oldest resident, who it believes is also the oldest gorilla in the world.
Fatou was born in 1957 and came to the zoo in what was then West Berlin in 1959. Ahead of her official birthday on Saturday, keepers on Friday served up a treat of fruit and vegetables.
Fatou, known to be the world's oldest female gorilla, feeds on a vegetable she picked out of a basket that was placed in her outdoor enclosure one day ahead of her 67th birthday at the Berlin Zoological Gardens, Berlin, Germany, on April 12, 2024. (Photo by John MacDougall / AFP)
Vet Andre Schüle said there is no gorilla older than Fatou in any other zoo, "and we have to assume that there is no animal older than her in the wild," where animals do not live so long.
Fatou lives in an enclosure of her own and prefers to keep her distance from the zoo’s other gorillas in her old age.
Fatou became the zoo's oldest resident only recently, following the death earlier this year of Ingo the flamingo. The bird was believed to be at least 75 and had lived at the zoo since 1955.
