Pomp as oldest chimpanzee, Zakayo celebrates birthday

ENTEBBE.
Zakayo, Uganda’s oldest famous chimpanzee yesterday celebrated his 53rd birthday at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) with pomp.

Zakayo was released from his arena at about 11am and was directed to the birthday venue. Awaiting him was a cake that had been prepared in his honour.

His anxious visitors who included journalists, pupils and tourists, among others were watching from a distance.

He approached the cake stand as overjoyed spectators sang him a birthday song. Zakayo reacted in excitement to the exhilaration of everyone.

Upon realising that other chimpanzees were still locked up in their enclosures, Zakayo retreated to get them. Animal keepers then signalled to the other chimpanzees to join Zakayo.

The 53-year-old abandoned a bamboo stick that had been prepared for him to cut cake and instead used his hand to pinch it.

Other chimpanzees joined him until the Alpha male known as Matooke showed up only to grab almost half of the cake.

Zakayo chased him but he took off. Others had had their share and scattered while the rest climbed trees in excitement.

At the height of the celebrations, Mr James Musinguzi, the UWEC executive director, used the opportunity appeal to Ugandans to take part in wildlife conservation.

“We celebrate the day to highlight to people world over that chimpanzees and other wild animals are of use to us and can contribute self-positive impaction, so we do this to promote conservation of wildlife in the world,” he said.

Highlighting the plight of chimpanzees, Mr Musinguzi said the animals are rescued from the wild every quarter of the year, “humans have built in places that used to be territory for chimpanzees”.

He called for more funding to wildlife reserves.
“Thirty nine species of wildlife have been declared extinct, if it hadn’t been for zoos and wildlife centres, animals could not have been seen by people and zoos help connect people with nature,” he said.

Commenting on Zakayo’s health, Mr Isaac Mujaasi, UWEC’s marketing manager told Daily Monitor that: “We thought at 53, he would have died from ailments such as lung cancer, the lifestyle that he had while he was still young wasn’t good.”

“So every year that he adds to his life is a great deal to us and he is an ambassador of all chimpanzees and wildlife all over the world,” he added.

Who is Zakayo

Zakayo was found abandoned on June 10, 1964 in Semiliki National Park in Bundibugyo District and was hand raised by a white man who surrendered him to UWEC on June 19, 1976 as he was becoming aggressive and difficult to manage. He used to stay in a cage and visitors would tease him, offer him cigarettes and alcohol, which would make him very excited. He is the father of Shaka. In 2012, Zakayo lost his alpha male position to another chimpanzee, Matooke, although he still commands a lot of respect from the group, instilling order and peace when there are group fights and making sure that everyone enters the enclosure or exits it before he does, which defines his caring character.