SOUTH AFRICA: WORLD'S OLDEST ELEPHANT CELEBRATES 36TH BIRTHDAY

English/Nat Jumbo the Elephant celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday party in South Africa on Saturday. He's believed to be the oldest and biggest elephant in captivity in the world. That was a good enough excuse for Jumbo to be centre-stage at a party in his honour. Although Jumbo may be too coy to admit it, he quite enjoys being the centre of attention. But that's exactly what he was as he celebrated his 36th birthday in the Johannesburg zoo on Sunday. Scores of little fans turned out to join in the Jumbo Birthday bash. As a special treat his normal diet of grass was put aside as children fed him pieces of birthday cake made of cereal feed. Although elephants can grow up to 65 years old in the wild, Jumbo at the age of 36 is believed to be the oldest African elephant anywhere in captivity. A full grown elephant bull, Jumbo weighs more than seven tons. SOUNDBITE: "It's an African elephant and as far as we know he is the biggest and the oldest living mammal in captivity in the world. So I think this is also a great opportunity to find out from other zoos in the world whether they have something bigger than Jumbo." SUPER CAPTION: Dawie van der Walt, Zoo keeper at Johannesburg Zoo Zoo keepers warned that though he might look placid on his birthday. But Jumbo in a bad mood is not a pretty sight as many an elephant handler has found when they've been at the wrong end of one of his charges. But Jumbo's junior fans are more used to his softer side. SOUNDBITE "When I fed him he sucked my finger." SUPER CAPTION: Seven-year-old Craig Condy, a Jumbo fan Jumbo received an elephantine quantity of birthday presents, including pictures of himself drawn by adoring little fans. He was far too thick skinned to let them know that he would rather have food to celebrate his special day - preferably in Jumbo-sized portions. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/28d32839b9c623f4b865001373081149 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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