Happy Birthday, Timmy!

Oldest male gorilla in North America celebrates 50th birthday milestone at the Louisville Zoo  

Timmy, the oldest male gorilla in North America, celebrated his 50th birthday in style today, January 17, as a packed crowd gathered inside Louisville Zoo’s Gorilla Forest to honor his significant milestone.

“This was really a special celebration,” Gorilla Forest Supervisor Roby Elsner said, “because it is very rare for a male gorilla to reach this age. Timmy is pretty phenomenal.”

Before the festivities began, a 300-pound ice sculpture “cake” carved in the number 50 and decorated with frozen fruit juice was loaded in and set up for Timmy and the three females in his group—Paki, Mia Moja and Kweli.

While the three girls went over right away to investigate the ice sculpture, which was created and donated by Galt House Hotel and Suites Executive Chef Brian Riddle, Timmy seemed more interested in gathering up and eating the oranges used as decoration around the sculpture. After the curiosity of the females waned, in his laidback fashion Timmy sauntered over to the ice sculpture, examined it and began to pull oranges out of the frozen fruit juice mounds.

Other gorillas also took part in the momentous occasion with special piñata enrichment.

During the party it was announced that an official Proclamation signed by Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson declared January 17 as “Timmy the Gorilla Day” in observance of Timmy’s birthday milestone.

“We were thrilled to commemorate this significant achievement in Timmy’s life with a community-wide celebration,” Elsner said. “Timmy is definitely special, and this day is an important testament to the wonderful care our animals receive at the Zoo.”

BACKGROUND

Born in 1959, Timmy is a laid-back silverback adored by the female gorillas in his group. Before arriving at Louisville Zoo in 2004, Timmy lived at the Memphis Zoo, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Bronx Zoo.

Louisville Zoo’s award-winning Gorilla Forest is on the forefront of gorilla management and meets the demographic trends of current gorilla populations like geriatric gorillas. The Louisville Zoo has a total of 11 gorillas.

“With the extraordinary care our animals receive, the Zoo has an important role to play in caring for an increasing number of aging gorillas,” Elsner said. “Gorilla Forest is a great home for Timmy because this unique facility allows close keeper contact with him all day long and the freedom for him to make choices about his environment that can increase his comfort, like staying inside or going outside.”

Because of the steep decline of great apes populations in the wild, 2009 has been declared Year of the Gorilla by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Convention on Migratory Species, the UNEP/UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Great Ape Survival Partnership and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. For more information, visit www.yog2009.org.

For more information on the Louisville Zoo and Gorilla Forest, visit www.louisvillezoo.org.

Photos courtesy of the Louisville Zoo, Michele Long photographer.