Happy birthday, Grandma Cony!<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Nobody knew how Cony felt as dozens of people gathered in
\nfront of her cage to celebrate her 60th birthday on Saturday. She
\nwatched her guests, mostly animal lovers and journalists, with a
\nlistless, almost bored, expression.<\/p>\n
She did not seem to care much about the young palm leaf
\ndecorations placed around her cage or the birthday songs sung by
\nher guests.<\/p>\n
She only turned jovial after seeing her birthday presents --
\ngrapes, bananas and coconuts, her all-time favorites. She quickly
\ntucked into the goodies, together with her met, Petsy, 44, and
\nfriends Campo, 30, Cassa, 30, and Monica, 15 -- who have
\nfaithfully accompanied her for most of her life.<\/p>\n
Cony is a chimpanzee, a black hairy African ape, who has been
\nliving in Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta ever since it was
\nestablished in 1965. In fact, she arrived there two years before
\nthe zoo was officially opened.<\/p>\n
What makes Cony special?<\/p>\n
According to Willie Smits, director of the zoo's Schmutzer
\nPrimate Center, Cony is one of the oldest chimpanzees in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
"The average lifespan of a chimpanzee is 50 years. But she is
\nstill healthy even at 60, although she's a bit stiff compared to
\nthe other four," Smits said.<\/p>\n
Cony and her chimpanzee companions now live in an enclosure
\nmeasuring 1,400 square meters in the primate center. They will
\nsoon be moved to a island-like area measuring 2,500 square
\nmeters, which will be able to accommodate up to 100 chimpanzees.<\/p>\n
Cony arrived in Jakarta in 1950 at the age of five from
\nAmsterdam, the Netherlands. She first lived in the now-defunct
\nCikini Zoo, Central Jakarta, for 13 years before being moved to
\nRagunan together with the other animals.<\/p>\n
Cony is among the few animals from Cikini that are still alive
\nin Ragunan.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Petsy came from Australia in 1976. Campo and her
\nmate Cassa came from Spain in 1982, while Monica is the daughter
\nof Campo and Cassa, and was born in Ragunan.<\/p>\n
According to Darma, the head keeper of the primate center, the
\nfive chimpanzees eat more than 30 different kinds of fruits.<\/p>\n
He said the center provides the primates living there with
\nmore then 50 types of food each day and more than 100 different
\ntypes each month.<\/p>\n
The 13-hectare center is home to more than 20 different
\nprimate species from all over the globe. Other popular occupants
\nare four gorillas, as well as the many orangutans that live in
\nnatural surroundings where they can climb trees and eat their
\nfruit.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/happy-birthday-grandma-cony-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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