Yangon’s oldest elephant Mo Mo turns 64

The Yangon Zoological Garden held a celebration over the weekend in honor of Mo Mo – the city’s oldest elephant – who just celebrated her 64th birthday.

The celebration was held on Saturday and Sunday and included special entertainment programs and discounts for visitors.

The zoo celebrates Mo Mo’s birthday every year by dressing her up in a sparkly outfit and releasing a number of birds equal to her age.

“We treat her like a human,” said zoo manager Aye Hlaing in 2015.

Mo Mo was born in 1953 and entered captivity at the age of seven, when a lumberjack named Khun Sanda found her lost in the forest, separated from her family.

She was initially trained to work in logging, but her humans eventually decided to send her to the Yangon Zoological Garden, where she has risen to fame through her harmonica performances and dance routines.

Over the many decades she has spent at the zoo, she has watched old friends pass away and keepers retire.

In 1994 and 1996, she participated in parades held to celebrate the arrival of a Chinese Buddha tooth relic, according to the Myanmar Times.

She survived serious stomach illness in 1997, but her health is reportedly otherwise good.

Zoo veterinarian Myint Thein told Eleven: “Sixty-four years old is quite old. Humans would have hair turning white and loosing teeth, but that is still not so for Mo Mo. It is actually quite important for elephants to have their teeth intact because when they eat, they have to be able to grind it down in their mouth. Otherwise they risk dying from indigestion.”

He added: “Mo Mo is one of the lucky ones among the elephants. Her karma is unmatched. She has no illnesses to speak of, and she’s still loved by the people even after so long.”

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Rangoon’s Oldest Elephant Retires

RANGOON — After five decades entertaining visitors at the Rangoon Zoo shaking her hips to the beat in party outfits, the city zoo’s oldest elephant has been retired, said a zoo official.

The beloved 64-year-old Mo Mo was retired on her last birthday in October 2016; however, there was no official announcement from the zoo, and an official told media about her retirement at the zoo’s 111th-anniversary celebration from January 21-25.

Mo Mo is still being kept under the care of the Rangoon Zoo, said Ko Myo Kyaw Thu, the administrative manager of the Htoo Foundation’s zoo and garden business unit responsible for the management of the zoo on Tuesday.

She will be kept at the zoo until her last breath along with eight fellow friends—five females and three males, he added. Even though her keepers and mahouts have retired one after another, she remains healthy.

Born in 1953 and donated to the zoo by U Khoon Sandah from Karenni State’s Loikaw in 1961, Mo Mo has been so popular among the public—especially children—that she became an icon of the Rangoon Zoo and appeared in television commercials promoting the site.

Mo Mo also participated in parades held to mark the arrival of a Buddha tooth relic from China during the 1990s. The Rangoon Zoo began celebrating her birthdays annually when she turned 60.

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