Photo: Clyde Peeling's Reptiland/Facebook

Zoo Throws 60-Year-Old Tortoise a Birthday Party, Complete With Fruit Cake

Wildlife News
by Eben Diskin Aug 2, 2019
Birthday parties and cakes are not reserved to human beings — reptiles get to celebrate milestones, too. Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland zoo in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, threw Henry the tortoise a 60th birthday party. The video of Henry enjoying his cake is as adorable as it gets.

Henry’s cake was made entirely out of fruits and vegetables, served on a plate of leaves, with a few hibiscus flowers for decoration. Clearly, Henry enjoyed the special treat.

Kalin Palmatier, a spokesperson for the zoo, told Insider, “We decided to throw him a special party for this milestone because we love to treat our animals on special occasions like this. We felt turning 60 warranted a celebration!”

Henry isn’t the only tortoise getting the special birthday treatment; in 2016, the zoo staff organized a birthday celebration for Henry’s tortoise roommate Al’s 50th and it was a hoot.

According to the zoo’s Facebook page, the staff was “blown away” by the response received after the video was posted — the footage posted on Facebook garnered 94,000 views and was shared 1,248 times. They explain that no matter how potentially viral those might become, they will “continue to share fun, entertaining, and educational photos and videos” for the public’s enjoyment and to show the world that even reptiles, often misunderstood animals, can be incredibly cute.

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