Grandma 'Cony' celebrates 60th birthday
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Nobody knew how Cony felt as dozens of people gathered in front of her cage to celebrate her 60th birthday on Saturday. She watched her guests, mostly animal lovers and journalists, with a listless, almost bored, expression.
She did not seem to care much about the young palm leaf decorations placed around her cage or the birthday songs sung by her guests.
She only turned jovial after seeing her birthday presents -- grapes, bananas and coconuts, her all-time favorites. She quickly tucked into the goodies, together with her met, Petsy, 44, and friends Campo, 30, Cassa, 30, and Monica, 15 -- who have faithfully accompanied her for most of her life.
Cony is a chimpanzee, a black hairy African ape, who has been living in Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta ever since it was established in 1965. In fact, she arrived there two years before the zoo was officially opened.
What makes Cony special?
According to Willie Smits, director of the zoo's Schmutzer Primate Center, Cony is one of the oldest chimpanzees in the world.
"The average lifespan of a chimpanzee is 50 years. But she is still healthy even at 60, although she's a bit stiff compared to the other four," Smits said.
Cony and her chimpanzee companions now live in an enclosure measuring 1,400 square meters in the primate center. They will soon be moved to a island-like area measuring 2,500 square meters, which will be able to accommodate up to 100 chimpanzees.
Cony arrived in Jakarta in 1950 at the age of five from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She first lived in the now-defunct Cikini Zoo, Central Jakarta, for 13 years before being moved to Ragunan together with the other animals.
Cony is among the few animals from Cikini that are still alive in Ragunan.
Meanwhile, Petsy came from Australia in 1976. Campo and her mate Cassa came from Spain in 1982, while Monica is the daughter of Campo and Cassa, and was born in Ragunan.
According to Darma, the head keeper of the primate center, the five chimpanzees eat more than 30 different kinds of fruits.
He said the center provides the primates living there with more than 50 types of food each day and more than 100 different types each month.
The 13-hectare center is home to more than 20 different primate species from all over the globe. Other popular occupants are four gorillas, as well as the many orangutans that live in natural surroundings where they can climb trees and eat their fruit.