BERLIN — It was another milestone birthday for the world’s oldest gorilla in captivity.
Fatou turned 69 years old on Monday and celebrated in style, chowing down on a birthday dish of cooked vegetables and receiving words of praise from Guinness World Records.
The western lowland gorilla has resided at Zoo Berlin since 1959, according to Guinness. She was believed to be approximately 2 years old when she arrived at the facility, in what was then West Berlin.
Fatou’s exact birthdate is unknown, but April 13 has been designated as her birthday for celebration purposes, according to The Associated Press.
Gorillas can live for approximately 35 to 40 years in the wild and longer in captivity, the news organization reported.
Fatou, the world's oldest female gorilla, celebrated her 69th birthday at Berlin Zoo with a basket full of edible goodies pic.twitter.com/7fkgLMdS8K
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 13, 2026
“In human age, she would be more than a hundred,” said Philine Hachmeister, a spokesperson for Zoo Berlin, told The Washington Post.
Fatou has been a mother and a grandmother, according to the newspaper.
She became the zoo’s oldest resident in 2024, when a flamingo named Ingo died. The bird was believed to have been at least 75 years old and had been at the zoo since 1955, the AP reported.
Fatou’s journey to the Berlin zoo is filled with legends. According to one story, she was brought from Africa to Marseilles, France, by a sailor, the Post reported.
The sailor then allegedly traded the primate to settle a bar bet. Fatou then wound up with a French animal trader who sold her to the zoo in Germany, according to the newspaper.
The zoo has been unable to confirm that story, however.
“She’s one of the very few and very old animals that still came from the wild,” Hachmeister told the Post. “Nowadays we send the animals back to the wild and not the other way around.”
Fatou was first recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest gorilla in 2019. The website highlighted her story again on her birthday.
Hachmeister told the Post that Fatou is dealing with more health issues as she ages.
Her eyesight has dimmed but her hearing remains sharp. She is suffering from arthritis and no longer has death, restricting her to a soft diet.
Her diet no longer contains blueberries, raspberries and strawberries because those fruits are high in sugar.
Hachmeister said that Fatou “has this dignity.”
“She looks at you, and it’s like looking at your grandma,” she told the Post. “That’s what I’m thinking every time I go past her.”
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