Zoo Miami’s ‘Grand Dames’ celebrate birthdays with special menu
.jpg "Bubbles, the oldest chimp in North America, inspects her gift box on her 63rd birthday on February 5, 2026, at Zoo Miami.")
The Golden Girls of Zoo Miami, or “Grand Dames” as their keepers call them, are a fair bit more hairy than Blanche and Dorothy, but just as playful and vibrant in their twilight years. Bubbles and Samantha, the oldest and third-oldest chimpanzees in North American captivity, were joyous as ever, celebrating their 63rd and 57th birthdays on Thursday.
Zoo Miami staff and volunteers coordinated a festive array of treats and decorations for the two old gals and their companions, male chimpanzees Niger and Hondo: a five-tier cake made from fruit, yogurt and sweet-potato frosting; baked fruit and vegetable cupcakes with yogurt frosting; and enrichment boxes filled with raisins and nuts.
Paper birthday decorations and big “Happy Birthday Bubbles and Samantha” banners flew in their enclosure to celebrate a momentous occasion.
Bubbles is the oldest chimpanzee under human care in North America, said Ron Magill, Zoo Miami’s communications director. She was estimated to be born in January or February 1963, coming down to Miami from the Louisville Zoo in March 1982.
Samantha is tied for the third-oldest chimp across the continent and came to Miami in November 1981 from a private individual. She was estimated to be born in January or February 1969.
Magill has previously noted the girls are referred to as “extreme senior citizens” because chimps rarely live past 50.
The pair is also a rarity among animals at Zoo Miami because they were born in the wild, Magill said. Only a handful of other critters share the same history, and most were rescues that could not be returned to their natural habitat.
Chimps are listed as an endangered species suffering from habitat destruction and the bushmeat trade. These primates are the closest living relatives to humans and are native to isolated forests in eastern and Central Africa.
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