Minnesota Zoo Snow Monkey Celebrates 29 Years; Oldest in North America

The Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley celebrated a big milestone for one its residents Thursday.

A snow monkey, named Nikko, turned 29 this month, making him the oldest living male snow monkey in North America.

To celebrate, the zoo decorated the snow monkey exhibit and gave him some presents.

Nikko came to the zoo in 2001. Since then, he has been one of the dominant males, zoo staff says. He's always been laid back, helping to maintain peace within the troop. Staff members believe his personality has helped him survive almost twice as long as a typical male.

Zoo officials say just three other living snow monkeys in the world are older than him. Of all males overall - living and deceased - there have been only seven older than Nikko, they say.

It's estimated that Nikko has lived longer than 99.5 percent of other known male snow monkeys.

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