There's no way that animals, even particularly intelligent ones, really care when their birthdays fall. But when you think of birthdays as a way to show some love to someone you care about, the concept of animal birthdays makes a lot more sense.
A zoo recently paid a touching tribute to one of its elder animals.
They're big enough to trample you but smart enough to only do it if you're a threat. These elephants are highly intelligent and have been known to interact with humans.
The zoo's oldest elephant, a female Asian elephant named Lucky, turned 60 years old earlier this month. Zookeepers decided to throw a party for Lucky — and streamed the whole thing on Facebook Live.
Life expectancy for Asian elephants is reportedly about ten years less than Lucky's 60 years.
"It's a tribute to the care that they get with our staff," animal care specialist Candace Gutierrez said. "Their wild counterparts do not live as long because again their teeth wear down, their eyesight changes, even their hearing and their skin is sensitive."
The live video starts with Mike Huff, another animal care specialist and clearly one of Lucky's favorite humans, talking about what a special creature she is.
Lucky really seemed to enjoy getting hosed down with cool water during the warm Texas spring weather. Zookeepers also gave her some treats to help celebrate her special day.
Huff gave Lucky some snacks, which she stuffed into her mouth using her long trunk. Lucky is celebrating her 60th birthday and she's spent 58 of those years in comfort at the San Antonio Zoo.
Lucky can be seen in the video having a great time with a couple of small logs, which I guess is awesome if you're into that sort of thing. She even brought them over to her human friends by the side of the enclosure.
Although she's elderly in elephant terms, Lucky seems to be living the dream. She's in good health, eating well and enjoying her playtime.
Let us know what you think of this touching story in the comments section!
h/t: San Antonio Zoo
