Female Asian elephant Mo Mo enjoys fruit during her 69th birthday party at the Yangon Zoological Gardens in Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2022. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)
Mo Mo, a female elephant at the Yangon Zoological Garden in Myanmar, already outlived an Asian elephant's typical life expectancy of nearly 50 years.
YANGON, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Mo Mo, a female Asian elephant who is the oldest at the Yangon Zoological Garden in Myanmar, celebrated her 69th birthday on Saturday.
As children and other spectators sang to mark her birthday, the Yangon zoo's oldest animal Mo Mo chomped on an assortment of fruits and vegetables arranged in the shape of a rectangle cake.
Female Asian elephant Mo Mo celebrates her 69th birthday at the Yangon Zoological Gardens in Yangon, Myanmar, Oct. 29, 2022. (Photo by Myo Kyaw Soe/Xinhua)
"We celebrated her birthday annually since 2013, with edible decorations and massive cakes made from fruits and vegetables," Kyaw Ye Thiha Pe, head of the Yangon Zoological Garden, said.
Mo Mo already outlived an Asian elephant's typical life expectancy of nearly 50 years, he said.
"The grand elephant Mo Mo is a virgin (not married). She lived at the Yangon Zoo since 1961 when she was brought from Kayah state," he said.
The zoo keeper said Mo Mo values cleanliness, as she does not fancy the drinking water in the pond. She prefers instead tap water.
As her eyesight and teeth are weaker, the zoo feeds her softer fruits like bananas, he said.
"We take great care of her so that she can live longer," he said.■
