Lady the gorilla celebrates her 40th birthday — in pictures

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  Al Ain Zoo made a special cake for Lady, a western lowlands gorilla, a species described by the World Wildlife Fund as critically endangered.

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  Students from Tawam Private school Al Ain were invited to join the celebrations. They learnt about Lady’s life story.

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  Lady celebrates her 40th birthday. She was brought to the UAE from Cameroon in 1978, when she was four years old.

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  Lady drinks milk. She has lived alone in the zoo since 1998 when her male companion, another gorilla named Maxi, died from natural causes.

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  Zookeepers have been busy helping her fight off any loneliness, by giving her a TV and DVD player.

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  One of Lady’s companions is a rabbit.

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  Al Ain Zoo, home to roughly 3,700 animals, celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2013.

Al Ain Zoo’s eldest mammal celebrated her 40th birthday on Thursday. To mark the milestone, the zoo sent out invitations to people, offering the opportunity to learn about Lady’s life story, have photos taken with her, and get treated to a piece of birthday cake. All photos by Pawan Singh / The National