MoMo, the Hardest-Working Elephant in Show Biz, Turns 65

YANGON—Yangon Zoo threw a birthday party for its oldest elephant, MoMo, on Oct. 21. Thousands of her human admirers gathered at the Yangon Zoological Garden to wish the beloved pachyderm a happy 65th.

MoMo was dressed in a bright, sparkly red outfit for the occasion, which reached its climax as she blew out the candles on her jumbo-sized birthday cake. She and five of her junior elephants from the zoo were also treated to a fruit buffet, musical performances by local idols, animal dances, games and even a comedy show.

Yangon Zoo has celebrated MoMo’s birthday every year since 2010; the party has become something of an event and always draws a crowd.

MoMo has long been Yangon’s favorite elephant; for nearly 55 years she charmed the city’s residents with her special talents such as dancing with a football, playing the harmonica and shaking her hips to the beat. She finally retired as a performer at age 60, said Ko Aung Win Thaung, the elephant keeper at Yangon Zoo.

Every Sunday for decades, Yangon Zoo was packed with families flocking in to see MoMo’s show. She is now an institution among city-dwellers.

“I’ve been working with MoMo for nearly 10 years. She’s a clever one. Currently, she is the matriarch of a group of six elephants at Yangon Zoo,” Ko Aung Win Thaung said.

“She’s getting on a bit now and would like to enjoy a quiet life, but the younger elephants are playful and she gets cross with them. At the same time, she’s teaching them life lessons, and not to make trouble,” he said.

MoMo was born in 1953 in Loikaw, Kayah State. Her owner, U Khoon Sandah, donated her to the zoo in 1961.

“The average life span for an elephant [in captivity] is about 70 to 75. Mostly, elephants live to about 60 in the wild, though many die before that age. MoMo has had a long life because she’s been cared for by the Yangon Zoo,” Ko Aung Win Thaung said.

MoMo has occasional age-related health issues like dental problems and seasonal flu. Basically, though, she’s amazingly healthy for her age, he said, adding that the zoo monitors her health regularly.

According to Ko Aung Win Thaung, MoMo is quite fastidious about keeping clean. She won’t touch the water from the elephants’ pond, and only drinks from a water pipe.

Something else that sets MoMo apart is that she’s never been married, and will likely remain a spinster for the rest of her life. “She is very shy. Normally, Yangon Zoo has mainly female elephants and a few males. She doesn’t seem to like any of them, though, so she’ll probably stay single,” Ko Aung Win Thaung said.

MoMo has lived almost her entire life at the zoo and has seen many of her old friends pass away in recent years. Nowadays, MoMo is the zoo’s oldest elephant, serving as a mother figure to Myo Myo, Ma Chaw Lay, Ma Hla Chaw, May Thae Phyu and Mo Thaw Pyae.

“MoMo is known around the country, and to generations of Myanmar people. People will long remember her, even after she passes away. They may name other elephants after her, but we will always remember the original MoMo,” he said.

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/momo-hardest-working-elephant-show-biz-turns-65.html

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.”

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/yangons-oldest-elephant-mo-mo-turns-64/

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.

To read the full article, click on the story title