PHILADELPHIA -- Massa, the oldest gorilla in captivity, celebrated his 54th birthday Sunday in beastly grand style by gorging on bananas, ice cream and ZooCake while 500 people sang and cheered him on at the Philadelphia Zoo.
The birthday ape coolly passed up the cake and went for the fruit first, swallowing pieces of apples, oranges and strawberries and grapes.
The hairy, 175-pound lowland gorilla from western Africa seemed to especially enjoy the four bananas, in which he rarely indulges because they are so fattening, said Deborah Derrickson, spokeswoman for the zoo.
'He did like the whipped cream too. He smeared it on his face. That is a very special treat. When you get to be that age you get to have some special treats,' Derrickson said.
Within 25 minutes, the fruit and pint of vanilla ice cream had been consumed and he started on the ZooCake, a concoction of cereal grains, milk, proteins, unsaturated fats, minerals and vitamins developed by the zoo for Massa when he moved to Philadelphia.
The cake was no big deal, Derrickson said, because he eats it all the time.
During the annual birthday party, which was more subdued this year than when Massa was younger, about 500 people gathered in front of his decorated glass enclosure and sang 'Happy Birthday' to him.
Employees at the Rare Mammal House strung up some of the 500 or so cards the popular gorilla received from spectators.
Massa, who is listed in the 'Guiness World Book of Records' as the oldest gorilla in captivitiy, was sold to the zoo Dec. 30, 1935, for $6,000. Gorillas in the wild usually do not live more than 25 years, a zoo official said.
His mother had been slain while raiding crops in a remote jungle village of western Africa and he was raised by natives until he was sold to a New York sea captain.
Massa was raised by primate-lover Gertrude Lintz of Brooklyn, N.Y., until he attacked her when she accidentally spilled a pail of water on him.
