This weekend, the public is invited to Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chon Buri to help Mae Mali, the nation’s longest living hippopotamus, celebrate her 58th birthday.
A hippo-themed exhibition, customary birthday celebrations, and activities will all be part of the festivities scheduled for Saturday through Monday.
In addition, Attapon Srihayrun, head of the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand (ZPO), announced that visitors who were born on September 8, the day Mae Mali was born, will also get presents.
Mae Mali is thought to be the country’s longest-living mammal in captivity.
On September 8, 1966, the hippo was born at the Koelner Zoo in Cologne, Germany. On June 8, 1967, she was relocated to Dusit Zoo. She has since witnessed 24 different prime ministers come and go.
The hippo was transferred to Khao Kheow Open Zoo when Dusit Zoo was shut down in 2018. Since then, she has resided there under the close supervision of the zoo’s veterinary staff.
At her current weight of two tons, Mae Mali consumes at least 50 kilos of grass and other plants per day. The hippo has given birth to 14 calves.
The zoo is about one-and-a-half hours in the car from Bangkok on Highway 7 headed south towards Pattaya.
