Nonja celebrates her 35th birthday


The female orangutan who is undoubtedly one of Schönbrunn Zoo’s most famous animals celebrates her 35th birthday today. Nonja made a name for herself as a painter and is the first ape worldwide with her own Facebook account. The first present for her and her companions were large, colourful building blocks. “The keepers showed the orangutans how to use these blocks. In the meantime, Nonja and the other very nosy female Sol relish in building high towers and even put the blocks back into the drum when they have finished,” says the Zoo’s director, Dagmar Schratter. The keepers have also started to hide some raisins in the joined blocks, which definitely increases the fun factor for the animals.

Nonja – the name means “little girl” - was born in Schönbrunn Zoo on April 21st, 1976. Although she was raised by her mother, she had to be given a supplement of milk by her keepers. As part of an activity programme in the 90s, Nonja started to use a brush and paints and created around 250 paintings. In those days, her pictures even fetched up to 28.000 Schilling, which equals about 2.000 Euro. On the walls of the “Atelier Nonja” situated in the Zoo grounds and named after her, one can still admire reproductions of her watercolours.

Nonja created a stir once more when, in December 2009, she became the first ape on Facebook. As a result of a marketing cooperation, Nonja was given a heavy duty digital camera with plastic casing and was rewarded for every photo she took with a raisin. Nonja’s snapshots were then published on Facebook. In no time at all she became a star and had 75.000 fans worldwide.


Nonja (chimpanzee) Photo from her Facebook album

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