ATLANTA - Atlanta's zoo is celebrating the world's oldest known living male gorilla.
Zoo Atlanta is planning to hold a birthday celebration for Ozzie this morning. The great ape turned 52 on Wednesday.
Ozzie was born in the wild in Africa in approximately 1961. He was part of an original group of western lowland gorillas who came to the zoo in the late 1980s from Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
During his 25 years in Atlanta, he has fathered 12 offspring, five of whom still live at Zoo Atlanta. He also has nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In 2009, Ozzie became the first gorilla ever to voluntarily participate in a blood pressure reading using an arm cuff.
Atlanta's zoo is home to North America's largest collection of western lowland gorillas.