The zoo says that there is no record of any older rhinos in the world's
zoos, and they rarely live beyond 40 in the wild.
Charly celebrated his half-century with a "cake" of fruit and
vegetables from the zoo where he has lived since 1972

A special birthday present - for a special birthday.

Meet Charly the white rhino - who's celebrating turning 50. 

And to mark the occasion - the zoo where he lives in northern Germany gave
him a rhino-pleasing birthday "cake" of fruit and vegetables.

The head of Serengeti Park says this milestone is especially important - as
Charly is the world's oldest rhino in captivity - if not in the world:

SOUNDBITE: Fabrizio Sepe, Head of the park, saying (German):
"There are stud books which are filled in around the world and
there aren't any older rhinos in these books. And we presume that these
animals don't grow older than 38 or 40 in the wild as the lions are much more
eager to play when the rhinos get slower and more lethargic, or they go into a
swamp and can't get out again. So we really do think that Charly is the oldest
white rhino in the world."

Charly came to the park from South Africa in 1972.

In that time he's certainly been busy - and has fathered 31 calves with the
females in the zoo.

And 50 is a ripe old age for a rhino - because these creatures weigh around
two and a half tons, which could lead to heart failure.

But the zoo says Charly is in good shape and their vets are confident he
can look forward to many more years in the park.

Joanna Partridge, Reuters