The Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand are making preparations, at Khao Kheow open zoo in the eastern province of Chon Buri, for a birthday celebration for Mae Malee, the longest surviving hippopotamus in Thailand, which will turn 57 on September 8th.
The organisation’s director, Attapon Srihayrun, said today (Wednesday) that Mae Malee will be treated to a huge fruit cake on her birthday and visitors to the zoo will be invited to join the celebration and express their good wishes from September 8th to the 11th.
Mae Malee was born at a zoo in Cologne, Germany, on September 8th, 1966 and was received by the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand on June 8th of the following year, when she was about a year old. She has since given birth to 14 calves, which have been distributed to various zoos around the country.
Weighing about 2,000 kgs, Mae Malee is in good health and is familiar with visitors. At 57, she is equivalent 75 to 85 in human years, said Atthaporn.
