The world’s oldest gorilla in captivity turned 69 on Monday, celebrating with a vegetable feast and a shoutout from Guinness World Records.
“In human age, she would be more than a hundred,” said Philine Hachmeister, a spokesperson for Zoo Berlin, where Fatou has lived for more than six decades, becoming a mother and grandmother.
Legend has it that Fatou, a western lowland gorilla, was brought from Africa to the port of Marseille in France in the late 1950s by a sailor who traded her to settle a bar bill. She ended up with a French animal trader, who sold her to the Berlin zoo.
“She’s one of the very few and very old animals that still came from the wild,” Hachmeister said. “Nowadays we send the animals back to the wild and not the other way around.”
While the zoo has been unable to confirm the stories about Fatou being traded in a tavern, they said she arrived at the zoo in what was then West Berlin when she was around 2 years old in 1959.
Decades ago, she was already one of the oldest gorillas in the world, so zookeepers picked a date to celebrate her birthday: April 13. Fatou was first recognized by Guinness World Records as the World’s Oldest Gorilla in 2019, and her story was highlightedagain on her birthday.
Fatou, who moves a bit slower than she used to, still enjoys time outside and “captivates visitors with her dignified manner,” according to the zoo.
Hachmeister noted that Fatou has some health challenges in her old age. Her eyesight is weaker, though she can still hear well. She has arthritis and no longer has teeth, so her food (mostly vegetables) is cooked to make it easier to eat. She can no longer eat some of her favorite snacks (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) because the fruit is too high in sugar.
Fatou’s health is closely monitored by a team of veterinarians and caretakers who have worked to keep her comfortable and happy decades beyond the typical life expectancy of a gorilla in the wild, according to the zoo.
“Life in the wild is hard,” said Tara Stoinski, president of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, explaining that the oldest gorillas they’ve monitored in the wild live up to around 40.
She said gorillas are critically endangered because of climate change, poaching and threats to their habitat.
“These are some of the most at-risk animals on the planet and a lot of people aren’t aware of that,” Stoinski said.
Western lowland gorillas — which generally weigh between 150 and 300 pounds — are family-oriented and often live in groups led by an adult male. They form lifelong friendships, take care of their most vulnerable members and mourn one another’s deaths.
“I always say that they reflect some of the best things that we love most about our own species,” Stoinski said.
Kristen Lukas, director of conservation and science at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, said that contrary to the image perpetuated by King Kong, gorillas often live as “gentle giants” and mostly eat plants.
“She’s been very well-cared for, and making it to the age of 69 is just incredible,” Lukas said of Fatou. “It way surpasses anything we would expect.”
Much has changed in Fatou’s lifetime, including the practices of reputable zoos. While Zoo Berlin said it would never remove an animal from the wild now, Fatou has become an ambassador for her species.
“Fatou looks at you and looks right into your soul,” Hachmeister said.
She said having a personal interaction with an animal like Fatou can drive home the importance of saving her species.
“She has this dignity,” Hachmeister said. “She looks at you, and it’s like looking at your grandma. That’s what I’m thinking every time I go past her.”
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