CHONBURI: Khao Kheow Open Zoo marked the 61st birthday of Mae Mali, Thailand’s longest-lived hippopotamus, with a lively celebration on Tuesday morning that drew fans, tourists and schoolchildren.
The event began at 9:30 a.m. on September 8th at the zoo’s hippopotamus exhibit in the Sri Racha district. Zoo director Narongwit Chodchoi joined executives, staff, visitors and supporters to honor the female hippo, a longtime public favorite.
The highlight was a giant fruit cake made from Mae Mali’s preferred foods: watermelon, dragon fruit, apple, papaya, Namwa banana, sweet potato, grapes, carrot and fresh grass. After emerging from her pond, the aging hippo approached the cake and ate it slowly as the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” and applauded.
Kimberly Kasayapat and Muthitta Charoenphot, known as Khun Song, donated 10,000 baht through the zoo’s wildlife patronage program to sponsor the cake and support Mae Mali’s care. Educational activities included an exhibition on her life, a birthday-wish writing station and prize games.
Mae Mali arrived from Tilburg Zoo in the Netherlands on June 8th, 1967, when she was about one year old. She first lived at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok before moving to Khao Kheow on December 18th, 2018. Over more than six decades she has given birth to 14 offspring.
Zoo staff say she remains in good health under close veterinary and keeper care and could one day become the world’s longest-lived hippopotamus.
