Bella, probably the oldest living Sumatran orangutan, celebrated her 61st birthday at the Hamburg Zoo on Tuesday. This is reported by the German news agency DPA. According to experts, the species lives on average between 40 and 50 years in the wild.
Bella is the oldest known living orangutan female and probably the oldest of her kind in the world. She came to Hagenbeck Zoo in 1964. Bella raised six children of her own and three adopted children.
“Today she is doing well,” says zoo director Tjark Rüther-Sebbel. “She is happy and is outside with the other orangutans.” On the occasion of this special day, Bella received a cake of boiled rice with pieces of fruit in it.
The orangutan female has only three teeth, but is doing well despite her advanced age, the director says. She often gets her food separately so she doesn’t have to compete with the younger monkeys for something.
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