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16th Sep 2020

WATCH: Clyde the ape celebrated a milestone birthday at Fota Wildlife Park yesterday

Sarah Finnan

Fota Wildlife

One of Fota Wildlife Park’s furry residents, Clyde the Siamang Gibbon, celebrated a milestone birthday yesterday. Now 40 years young, the ape was treated to a special ‘primate-friendly’ birthday cake by rangers which he generously decided to share with friends.

Native to the forests of Sumatra, Malaysia and Thailand, Siamang Gibbons are a type of tailless, black-furred ape. An endangered species, 80 per cent of their primary habitat has been lost to palm oil production in recent decades, but there are a growing number of the ape in existence and several now call Fota Wildlife Park their home – including Clyde who celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday!

Marking the occasion with a special ‘primate-friendly’ cake, Clyde even shared the delicious treat with his pals. Sharing is caring, after all.

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Today Clyde, one of the Siamang Gibbons at Fota Wildlife Park turned 40! To celebrate this birthday our rangers made a special primate-friendly birthday cake, including raisins, rice and carrot. . . The siamang gibbon is the largest of the 14 species of gibbon, weighing up to 14kg. A special throat sac enhances the siamang's call, helping to make it the loudest of the gibbons. Their call may be heard for up to two miles away across the forest canopy. . . They are very acrobatic and agile. Their extra-long arms help them cover up to 10 feet (3 meters) in a single swing. If they're not swinging through the trees, they're very likely walking along branches with their arms outstretched to help them keep their balance.

A post shared by Fota Wildlife Park (@fotawildlife) on

Not the traditional birthday cake you or I would be used to, this one was made with raisins, rice and carrot. Can’t say it would be my cup of tea but the apes seemed to approve of the recipe but as the closest related animal to mankind in the park, it’s no surprise that they love cake as much as we do.

Header image via Twitter/Fota Wildlife Park

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