Fans celebrate Betty White’s 95th birthday

Fans celebrate Betty White’s 95th birthday

Betty White says the best thing about being 95 is that she’s still employed.

The actress is celebrating her birthday Tuesday. She tells Yahoo’s Katie Couric that she’s “most grateful” for still getting job offers. She says she appreciates “the fact that people have been so kind to me all these years.”

After a series of high-profile celebrity deaths in 2016, one fan started a tongue-in-cheek fundraiser to help keep the “Golden Girls” star safe until 2017. White says fans “spoil me rotten” and adds that she enjoys “every minute of it.”

White was a trending topic on social media Tuesday thanks to well-wishes from fans.

60-year-old gorilla Colo dies at Columbus Zoo

COLUMBUS

The world’s first gorilla born in a zoo, a female named Colo who became the oldest known living gorilla in the U.S., has died at age 60, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said Tuesday.

Colo died in her sleep overnight, less than a month after her birthday, the zoo announced. She surpassed the usual life expectancy of captive gorillas by two decades.

“Colo touched the hearts of generations of people who came to see her and those who cared for her over her long lifetime,” zoo president Tom Stalf said. “She was an ambassador for gorillas and inspired people to learn more about the critically endangered species and motivated them to protect gorillas in their native habitat.”

Colo had been on exhibit in view of visitors Monday, when the zoo offered free admission for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Fond of baseball caps, the gorilla was seen in her enclosure toting around a yellow cap with a gorilla on it, given to her by the zoo team caring for her.

The zoo said the gorilla’s body will be cremated and the ashes will be buried at an undisclosed location at the zoo.

Colo was born at the zoo on Dec. 22, 1956. She eventually became a mother of three, grandmother of 16, great-grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of three.

Zoo officials said a post-mortem examination was planned to determine Colo’s cause of death. The median life expectancy for female gorillas in human care is 37.5 years.

Veterinarians recently removed a malignant tumor from Colo, but the zoo had said she was doing well. The necropsy could help show whether the cancer contributed to her death, but the results aren’t anticipated for several weeks.

Associated Press