Happy 50th, Timmy!
Posted by: Loren Coleman on January 18th, 2009
The oldest male gorilla in a North American zoo celebrated his 50th birthday surrounded by females and snacking on fruit. Won’t most American males want it that way?
The Louisville Zoo had a party Saturday for Timmy, a silverback gorilla. Zoo officials report he is the oldest male and is tied for fourth oldest gorilla overall in North America. They say it’s rare for male gorillas to reach his age.
Timmy and three female gorillas in his pack were given a 300-pound ice sculpture “cake” shaped like the number 50, with frozen fruit juices and other treats.
Born in 1959, Timmy is a laid-back silverback adored by female gorillas in his group which currently includes Paki, Mia Moja and Kweli. Before arriving at Louisville Zoo in 2004, Timmy lived at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and Bronx Zoo.
The Louisville Zoo has a total of 11 gorillas including Helen, 51, who is the third oldest gorilla in North America (there is a tie for first at age 53), and Timmy who ties for the fourth oldest gorilla overall in North America. There are a total of 355 gorillas currently housed in 52 zoos in North America (168 males and 187 females).
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Happy Birthday Timmy, from one primate to another!
He looks great for his age. May he have many more years to come.