Fatou, a
western lowland gorilla believed to be the oldest in the world, just celebrated
her 65th birthday at the Berlin Zoo.
"Happy
Birthday, dear Fatou! Our Gorilla lady is celebrating her 65th birthday
today, making her the oldest Gorilla in the world," the zoo wrote on
Instagram.
"The
traditional birthday cake could not be missing this year either. The birthday
meal is always something very special for Fatou," the zoo said. Photos
included in the post showed the huge primate enjoying a cake decorated with
berries and fruits to form the numbers "65."
Fatou
arrived to Berlin in 1959 through what the zoo describes as "unusual
circumstances" in a news release from her 61st birthday.
A sailor
used the young gorilla to pay his tab at a tavern in Marseilles, France, after
which she was transported across Europe before eventually being purchased by
the zoo in Germany. She was estimated to be just 2 years old at the
time of her arrival.
In 2019,
Fatou was named the "oldest living gorilla in captivity" by Guinness World
Records after Trudy, a gorilla born in 1956, died.
Fatou is
one of the only animals at the Berlin Zoo born in the wild, according to the
news release.
In
captivity, gorillas usually live up to 50 years, Guinness noted.