Even animals get to celebrate birthdays! The Denver Zoo recently celebrated two birthdays. In the orangutan habitat, the keepers decorated with pink and purple streamers and left out extra treats for Hesty, who turned 8-years-old! They posted a video on their Facebook page — doesn’t it look like she’s looking in a present here?
There was also celebration last month for the 15th birthday of Jorge the llama. He got to share a nutritional cake with his enclosure buddies Fernando and Mahali. The cake made from biscuits, blended jicama, and other vegetables was a hit. I particularly enjoyed this photo of the llama with icing on its…uhm, I’m guessing it’s a muzzle? It reminds me of kid smash cakes.
In Oklahoma, Cindy the chimpanzee celebrated 50 years with streamers too. As well, as a picnic-themed animal enrichment activity and new blankets.
Another old fogey getting a special treat was Tricia the Asian elephant who enjoyed a fruit cake on her 61s birthday in Perth.
Fellow 61-year-old Fatou also enjoyed a cake for her special day at the Berlin Zoo. Her cake of fruit, rice, and quark (a creamy, dairy substance popular in Germany) was gobbled up quickly. She’s one of the world’s oldest gorillas, sharing the title with an Arkansas gorilla, so it was a pretty big deal.
Back in the States again, in Naples, Florida, a one-year-old panther named Athena was treated to a large pink, decorated papier-mâché birthday cake. Visitors were also invited to make birthday cards which would be displayed around her enclosure.
Another cute one-year-old is Jackie, a red panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. The video online just shows the panda moving about its space where there were birthday cards, but nevertheless it had 23K views in just two weeks.
Bet, you can now figure out why I did another animal birthday-themed blog. Plus, it’s fun to research and the images are so cute!