Birthday for an elderly Berlin lady

FATOU, the world’s oldest gorilla, and Berlin Zoo’s oldest resident, celebrated her 67th birthday on April 13.

In the wild a gorilla will live, at most, until it is 35 years old.  In captivity, with human care, this can extend to 50 but Fatou shows no signs of slowing down.

She arrived in what was still called West Berlin in 1959, two years before the Wall was built.  Fatou’s exact age is uncertain but according to the zoo, she must have been around two when she arrived in Europe.

She was sold by a seaman in a Marseille bar and from there she found her way to Germany and, eventually, to Berlin Zoo.  Since then her birthday has always been celebrated on April 13, the day she arrived there.

This year, Fatou’s birthday presents began arriving on April 12, when she received a basket with leaves, twigs, lettuce and fruit although as she is now toothless, she prefers soft food.

As always, she spent the day in her own enclosure which adjoins the zoo’s main gorilla group, owing to her advanced years and frailty.

“Fatou is free to make contact with her fellow great apes whenever she wants, but prefers to enjoy her retirement in peace,” the zoo explained.

Fatou only recently became the Berlin Zoo’s oldest resident, following the death of Ingo the flamingo, who had lived in the zoo since 1955 and died in February 2024 when he was 75 years old.

The zoo had no clue as to his origins, although a ring on Ingo’s leg was inscribed “Cairo, 23.6.1948.

Ingo was also exceptionally long-lived for a flamingo, whose normal lifespan in the wild is usually calculated at approximately 30 years.  Announcing his demise, zoo director Andreas Knieriem said that an autopsy showed that “multiple age-related changes” had been responsible for Ingo’s death.