Thailand zoo celebrates country’s oldest female hippopotamus with birthday party
Mae Mali, Thailand’s longest-lived female hippopotamus was celebrated by tourists and staff of the Khao Kheow Open Zoo as she turned 59 on September 8.
As part of the celebrations, the 59-year-old mammal was given a special giant cake made from her favourite fruits and vegetables including dragon fruit, watermelon, carrots, bananas and some fresh grass.
The hippo was welcomed out of the pond with the ‘birthday song’ as she headed to enjoy her cake much to the delight of visitors and staff.
An exhibition about her history was also opened at the hippo section of the zoo during which visitors also got the opportunity to write birthday wishes for Mae Mali.
The zoo’s authorities also launched an invitation for funding to support the Wildlife Adoption Project for Mae Mali. The project seeks to provide funding for the building of a new home and also to cater for her health needs.
Mae Mali is still healthy in her old age and has produced 14 hippopotamuses in total.
She was transferred to Thailand’s Dusit Zoo from the Tilburg Zoo in the Netherlands. She arrived in June 1967 when she was only one year old and was moved to the Khao Kheow Open Zoo on December 18, 2018, Nation reports.
