World’s oldest gorilla – level 2
17-04-2025 07:00
Fatou is the world’s oldest gorilla. She lives at the Berlin Zoo and just turned 68 years old.
Most gorillas in the wild live only 30 to 40 years, so Fatou is very special. She has lived at the zoo for 66 years after arriving at age two. Fatou is the Western Lowland Gorilla, a kind of gorilla that lives in parts of Africa. These gorillas are in danger because their homes in the wild are disappearing. Fatou has some problems with her arms and legs. She can’t fully straighten them and has a disease in her joints called arthrosis. But she still feels good. She doesn’t have teeth, so she eats soft food like cooked vegetables and fruit. The zoo takes good care of her.
Difficult words: disappear (to not exist anymore), straighten (to make or become straight).
You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.
How does Fatou’s long life and unique health challenges at the Berlin Zoo illustrate differences between her species in captivity and in the wild, and what special care does she receive because of these challenges?
LEARN 3000 WORDS with NEWS IN LEVELS
News in Levels is designed to teach you 3000 words in English. Please follow the instructions
below.
How to improve your English with News in Levels:
Test
- Do the test at Test Languages.
- Go to your level. Go to Level 1 if you know 1-1000 words. Go to Level 2 if you know 1000-2000 words. Go to Level 3 if you know 2000-3000 words.
Reading
- Read two news articles every day.
- Read the news articles from the day before and check if you remember all new words.
Listening
- Listen to the news from today and read the text at the same time.
- Listen to the news from today without reading the text.
Writing
- Answer the question under today’s news and write the answer in the comments.
Speaking
- Choose one person from the Skype section.
- Talk with this person. You can answer questions from Speak in Levels.
Stock images by Depositphotos
