Amid chants and giant fruit cakes, dozens of Guatemalans celebrated this Saturday the 63rd birthday of Trompita the elephant, the main attraction of La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala‘s capital. The party, which included the singing of “Happy Birthday,” was held in an enclosure within the zoo where there is a small waterfall.
“Trompita is an elephant that came to the zoo in 2008, we have given her a lot of love since then and today we decided to celebrate her 63rd birthday, we wanted to celebrate it with everyone,” said Gabriela Galindo, the zoo’s marketing manager, to the press.
It was not just one cake, but two fruit cakes placed next to a large number 63 adorned with a large necklace of green, red, gold, and silver balls. Other animals that share the enclosure with the elephant, such as antelopes, also took the opportunity to eat some of the cake leftovers.
According to Misa Leiva, the zoo’s Ecology Coordinator, said the elephant has adapted very well to life in the place and has a good relationship with the caretakers. “Here we all have many anecdotes with Trompita,” said Leiva.
Trompita is an Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and was given by a circus in 2008. She became the icon of the zoo after the death that year of another female of her species, named Mocosita, who had been the emblem of the zoo since 1955.
In 2022, she became a trend on social networks due to a video recorded by a visitor where it is observed that Trompita alerted her caretaker that an antelope had fallen into a water pool.
The average lifespan of an Asian elephant in captivity is 48 years. Currently, it is included in the list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
La Aurora Zoo is situated on a public-owned farm and is managed by a non-governmental association. It was built in December 1924 and keeps on display more than 2,500 animals of 287 species.
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