Fatou (gorilla)

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Fatou in October 2019
Fatou in May 2018

Fatou (* probably 1957 in West Africa ) is a female western lowland gorilla who has lived in the Berlin Zoological Garden since 1959 . It is considered the gorilla with the highest documented age to date.

Life

Fatou was born in West Africa in the wild. A French seaman took them from there to Marseille , where he traded them in at a harbor bar in 1959 when he could not pay his bill. The landlady contacted the Berlin Zoo , which at that time was already known for keeping monkeys. The zoo was ready to take in the young gorilla. Together with Fatou in the cabin, the landlady then flew to Berlin on May 11, 1959, where they were received by animal keepers accompanied by the male gorilla Knorke upon landing at Tempelhof Airport . Fatou's age was estimated at two years, making 1957 the likely year of birth.

Knorke died in 1963. In 1965 a new male gorilla was admitted to the Berlin Zoo, which was also named Knorke. With Fatou he fathered the gorilla lady Dufte, who was the first gorilla to be born in Berlin in 1974. Despite the lack of experience in raising young animals due to her early separation from her mother, she raised her daughter without any problems. Between 1983 and 1985, two gorillas from the Nuremberg Zoo were kept in Berlin Zoo due to renovation work . While trying to bring the gorilla Fritz into contact with Fatou and Dufte, Fritz inflicted significant bite injuries on both of them.

Fatou's daughter Dufte died in 2001, her father Knorke in 2003. Later, Fatou and Gigi, who was about two years younger, were separated from the zoo's younger gorillas because they could no longer cope with their wild games. Since Gigi's death in 2009, Fatou has lived alone in the immediate vicinity of the enclosure of the other gorillas.

Since the death of female gorilla Colo in Columbus , Ohio Zoo , Fatou has been considered the oldest living gorilla. She shared this record with Trudy from the Zoo in Little Rock , Arkansas , until her death in July 2019 . Trudy was also born free, so the year she was born was only estimated. With an estimated age of 63 years, both are also considered to be the oldest recorded gorillas to date. There are national and international reports about Fatou's birthday, which is celebrated annually on April 13th.

literature

Web links

Commons : Fatou  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Norbert Koch-Klaucke: Zoo Berlin: Gorilla lady Fatou celebrates 60th birthday. In: Berliner Zeitung . April 13, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Now Fatou from Berlin is one of the oldest zoo gorillas in the world. In: Märkische Oderzeitung . January 20, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2018 .
  3. ^ Bernhard Blaszkiewitz: Contributions to the keeping of great apes in Berlin Zoo after 1945 . 2010, p. 240.
  4. ^ Bernhard Blaszkiewitz: Contributions to the keeping of great apes in Berlin Zoo after 1945 . 2010, p. 241.
  5. ↑ Trudy is dead. Spiegel Online, July 26, 2019, accessed on July 26, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Europe's oldest gorilla is celebrating its 61st birthday. In: faz.net . April 13, 2018, accessed May 23, 2018 .
  7. ↑ One of the world's oldest gorillas is 61 today. In: Irish Examiner . April 13, 2018, accessed May 23, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Veteran gorilla Fatou celebrates 61st birthday at Berlin zoo. In: CTV News . April 13, 2018, accessed May 21, 2018 .