Video: Mouila opens her
presents

A sprightly gorilla at a Kent wildlife
park has become one of the oldest apes of her kind in the
world - after reaching the ripe old age of 50.

Mouila the Western lowland gorilla - who is around
100 in "human years" - celebrated turning the big 5-0 this
month.

She's also now the oldest Western
lowland in the UK, according to keepers at Howletts Wild
Animal Park.

To mark the occasion event
Mouila and her pals - including nine year old female Imbi -
were given presents to unwrap and a special birthday bash.

Howletts and Port Lympne, near
Canterbury, house the largest group of Western lowland
gorillas in captivity.

Mouila herself has successfully reared
eight offspring and is now a grandmother.

Three of her sons are in the bachelor
group at Port Lympne, one son, Oumbi, has gone on to be the
breeding male at Twycross Zoo near Tamworth.

Some of her daughters have also
travelled to breeding programmes overseas.

Head gorilla keeper Lorna Wanless
added: "Mouila was born in 1960 and in 'human years' would be
around 100 years old making this birthday a real milestone for
her.

"I have worked with Mouila for 11
years. She is the head female in the group and is certainly a
strong character.

"She is a pleasure to work with and
has had a lot of babies which is a big help towards conserving this
critically endangered species."