ne of Britain’s oldest chimpanzees has celebrated her fiftieth birthday.

Koko, who resides at Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, reached the milestone on Sunday, outliving a chimpanzee’s common life expectancy by greater than 10 years.

Chimpanzees in captivity usually stay to round 33 years of age, however they've been identified to outlive lengthy into their 60s.

Koko was born at Dudley Zoo within the West Midlands in 1973 and moved to London Zoo when she was 9 earlier than being transferred to Whipsnade in 2006.

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She made headlines in 2007 when she and a fellow chimpanzee briefly escaped from their enclosure.

Koko was recaptured and led again to the enclosure, however her fellow escapee, Johnnie, was shot useless as a result of risk he posed to members of the general public.

Whipsnade Zoo primate keeper Grant Timberlake mentioned: “Koko might have just turned 50 but she’s still in brilliant health, thanks to the dedicated care of our zookeepers and veterinary team.

“Particularly when she sees her favourite food, it’s like she’s 20 years young again – climbing and swinging as fast as she can through the trees to reach it.”

Although Koko suffers from gentle arthritis in her fingers, that is soothed by low degree laser remedies which preserve her “pain-free and fully mobile”.

Mr Timberlake added: “Koko herself has voluntarily contributed to several important conservation projects for her species, helping to improve and protect the health of chimpanzees around the world.”

Vets have carried out ultrasound examinations on her coronary heart, to be able to perceive extra absolutely the difficulty of heart problems in nice apes.

Koko’s milestone makes her one of many oldest chimpanzees in Europe.

The present residing document holder for Europe, known as Coco, celebrated her 58th birthday at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire in April.

The oldest chimpanzee on document was Little Mama, who was regarded as in her late 70s when she died at a safari park in Florida in 2017.