World's oldest gorilla celebrates birthday at Berlin Zoo

Lady Fatou, known as the "grand dame" of the Berlin Zoo, was certified last year by Guiness as the oldest living gorilla in the world.

At 69 years old, Lady Fatou on Monday became not only the Berlin Zoo's longest-residing tenant but also maintained her title as the oldest gorilla in the world.

Born somewhere in West Africa in 1957, she arrived in Europe at the port of Marseilles in 1959 amongst the luggage of a French sailor. According to the Berlin Zoo, the sailor found himself unable to pay his bill at a tavern and gave Fatou to the landlady as payment. From there, she soon ended up in the German capital.

Fatou is a western lowland gorilla. In the wild they usually don't live past their 40s, and even in captivity 50 is considered advanced old age.

In 1974 she gave birth to Dufte, the first gorilla born at the Berlin Zoo. Although her daughter passed away in 2001, Fatou's granddaugther M'penzi still keeps her company in Berlin. She has at least three great-great-great grandchildren as of 2026.

"We 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," zoo director Andreas Knieriem said on one of her previous birthdays.

Nowadays, Fatou has her own private enclosure and staff members dedicated solely to her care. She prefers to sit back and watch the other gorillas play rather than get involved in the action, zoo workers say,

Edited by: Louis Oelofse