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- Johannesburg Zoo's western lowland male gorilla, Makokou, has turned 35.
- The birthday boy was spoilt with rooibos tea, jelly, fruit cake, fruit and vegetables.
- Makokou is recovering well from surgery to remove a growth from his nasal passage.
Johannesburg Zoo's beloved silverback gorilla, Makokou, turned 35 years old on Thursday and he had plenty to celebrate this year.
He is recovering well from a three-hour surgery to remove polyps in his congested nasal passages last month. The 35-year-old, male, western lowland gorilla celebrated with his favourite treats - a cake of fruits, nuts, all of his favourite veggies set in jelly, popcorn and other presents of healthy food.
READ | Makokou the gorilla to smell the roses after successful nasal surgery
Johannesburg Zoo media liaison Jenny Moodley told News24 that the friendly giant was shy at first when greeted by visitors on the morning of his birthday. But, after inspecting his birthday treats, he soon forgot about them and devoured his spoils.
"Yesterday's [Thursday] birthday was quite amazing. He thoroughly went through [the cake], even licking his plate when he was done," Moodley said.
The zoo used Makokou's birthday as a platform to send an anti-poaching message, after recent reports of incidents in the forests of Rwanda and Uganda.
"We also wanted to highlight that he's recovered well from the surgery."
Makokou did not only make headlines for his surgery on 20 June, which was only the second documented operation of its kind in the world, but he also became the first gorilla in South Africa to be flown in a helicopter for CT scans.
"It was quite an extensive surgery, and he is successfully recovering from the procedure. He was flown to Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) in Pretoria for CT scans. We've never had a gorilla in a chopper before," Moodley said.
"Our 210kg gorilla needed one of those big machines, hence he was flown for the CT scans and had to be tranquillised throughout. The scans confirmed that he had growths called polyps which might have been one of the contributing factors to his chronic nasal discharge. He is doing well now."
Moodley told News24 that the gorilla will still be monitored during his post-surgery recovery, until the nasal discharge subsides.
Makokou joined the zoo in 2004 at the age of 19, after Max, the famous crime-busting gorilla, died that same year of natural causes.
The Johannesburg Zoo remains closed to the public, however, a rotation of staff, ensures general animal feeding and cleaning continues uninterrupted.
