. Her birthday feast included cherry tomatoes, beets, leeks and lettuce. Cake, however, was off the table\u2014zoo staff skipped it due to health considerations for the elderly primate.<\/span><\/p>\nThe world’s oldest gorilla’s life has spanned nearly seven decades<\/b><\/h2>\n
Fatou is believed to have been born in 1957 in West Africa. Her exact birthdate is unknown, so April 13 has been designated as her official birthday.<\/span><\/p>\nHer path to Berlin reads like something out of another era. According to Guinness World Records, Fatou arrived in Europe in 1959 via Marseille, France, after reportedly being taken from the wild by a French sailor and later sold to the zoo.<\/span><\/p>\nBaby Capybara Escapes Zoo and Has English Village Searching for Her<\/p>\n
She has lived at the Berlin Zoo ever since, making her its longest-residing animal\u2014a tenure stretching more than 65 years.<\/span><\/p>\nFatou has outlived nearly every peer<\/b><\/h2>\n
Here\u2019s where the numbers get remarkable. In the wild, western lowland gorillas typically live 35 to 40 years. Fatou has nearly doubled that lifespan. Even among gorillas in captivity, which can live longer than their wild counterparts, reaching 69 is extraordinary.<\/span><\/p>\nFatou became the Berlin Zoo\u2019s oldest resident in 2024 following the death of Ingo the flamingo, which had lived at the zoo since 1955 and was believed to be at least 75 years old.<\/span><\/p>\nFatou\u2019s legacy extends well beyond longevity. She gave birth to a daughter, Dufte, in 1974\u2014the first gorilla ever born at the Berlin Zoo. Although Dufte died in 2001, Fatou\u2019s family line lives on. She has living descendants, including her granddaughter M\u2019penzi and at least three great-great-great-grandchildren as of 2026.<\/span><\/p>\nThat lineage\u2014spanning five generations\u2014is a quiet testament to how long Fatou has been around.<\/span><\/p>\nRed Fox Survives 14-Day Voyage Across the Atlantic, Lands in New York<\/p>\n
What daily life looks like for the world’s oldest gorilla<\/b><\/h2>\n
Age has changed Fatou\u2019s world considerably. Due to her advanced years, she lives in a separate enclosure and receives dedicated care from zoo staff. She has lost her teeth and experiences arthritis and hearing loss. She generally avoids interaction with other gorillas.<\/span><\/p>\nHer days are quieter now, shaped by the attentive care of a team that has watched her age far beyond what anyone might have expected.<\/span><\/p>\nZoo director Andreas Knieriem said in a previous statement:<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe are very proud to have been able to accommodate an animal with us now for more than half a century. We are pleased that Fatou is in such good health despite her age.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAn Endangered Baby Giraffe Is the Newest Star at the Columbus Zoo\u2014Here\u2019s What to Know<\/strong><\/p>\nAn Endangered Baby Giraffe Is the Newest Star at the Columbus Zoo\u2014Here\u2019s What to Know<\/strong><\/p>\nOregon Zoo\u2019s Newly Hatched Penguin Chicks Will Be Kept Apart Until They\u2019re 3 Months Old<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She has outlived most gorillas by decades, lost all her teeth and still enjoys a birthday spread of cherry tomatoes and beets. Meet Fatou\u2014the oldest gorilla living in captivity anywhere on Earth. The western lowland gorilla celebrated her 69th birthday on April 13 at the Berlin Zoo, where staff marked the occasion with a special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9812,9817,321,1779,49,9825,6703,9821,973,9818,249,9826,4634,9816,3115,9820,9811,9815,9822,417,475,502,693,7428,1271,2049,9828,3713,9814,9823,67,66,4365,7078,9824,9827,319,557,9813,478,9819,454],"class_list":["post-7636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pets-news","tag-69th","tag-69th-birthday","tag-animal","tag-april","tag-baby","tag-beets","tag-believed","tag-berlin","tag-birthday","tag-birthday-years","tag-born","tag-captivity","tag-celebrates","tag-celebrates-69th","tag-cherry","tag-fatou","tag-gorilla","tag-gorilla-celebrates","tag-gorillas","tag-great","tag-health","tag-life","tag-live","tag-lived","tag-living","tag-lost","tag-lowland","tag-oldest","tag-oldest-gorilla","tag-outlived","tag-pe-ts-fun","tag-pets-news","tag-staff","tag-teeth","tag-tomatoes","tag-western","tag-wild","tag-world","tag-world-oldest","tag-years","tag-years-zoo","tag-zoo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pe-ts.fun\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}