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A 57-year-old western lowland gorilla prepares to eat some ice cake she received for her birthday Thursday morning November 6, 2014 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The ice cake was colored with a sugar-free, orange-flavored drink mix, and Vila, and all the gorillas in the troop, took turns scraping cake onto their fingers or just licking the cake during the morning celebration. The gorilla habitat was filled with gift boxes and gourds painted by volunteers. Animal care staff made dozens of ice cupcakes – with pureed sweet potato and raisins – and filled the habitat with the animals' favorite treats like leafy greens, vegetables, air-popped popcorn and Chex Mix. Vila is one of the oldest gorillas in the world and the matriarch of the 8-gorilla troop at the Safari Park. She has served as a surrogate mother of several hand-raised gorillas during her life. It is estimated that Vila was born in late October of 1957 in the Congo. After arriving in the United States, Vila was hand-raised at the San Diego Zoo and then moved to the Safari Park, and she has lived there since 1975. There are three other western lowland gorillas who are close in age to Vila. The three other oldest-known gorillas live at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio (born Dec. 1958), the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas (born June 1958) and the Berlin Zoo in Germany (born May 1959). (Photo by AP Photo/San Diego Zoo Safari Park)
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