Featured Image Credit: Sankei Archive via Getty Images/ Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Topics: Michael Jackson, Animals
Lucy Devine
Topics: Michael Jackson, Animals
People have been left shocked to discover that Michael Jackson's chimpanzee, Bubbles, is still alive.
The chimp, who Jackson bought from a Texas research centre back in 1983, has just celebrated his 40th birthday - and fans can't believe it.
Bubbles has been living at the Center for Great Apes since 2005, where workers recently threw him a huge, bubble-themed birthday bash.
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“He did get a cake, but it’s a special ape-healthy cake,” founding director of the facility, Patti Ragan, told the New York Post.
“We frost it with mashed bananas and add a little bit of blue food coloring... and then we wrote his name in blueberries.
“We had tubs of bubble bath. They had paper bubbles everywhere.
“He just wanted to see who was visiting. He came and looked at all the staff that had come to be there for the party.”
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People were left pretty shocked to hear that Bubbles is still alive, with many admitting they often wondered what happened to him.
One person wrote on Reddit: "I always wondered what happened to Bubbles. I'm glad he's still alive."
While another said: "Super weird that just yesterday the thought of that chimp popped into my mind yesterday! I was wondering if he was still alive then I wake up this morning and see this post."
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And a third claimed: "I've been to the Center twice now (a perk of adopting an orangutan there) & Bubbles is a happy, healthy chimp interacting with other chimps."
Bubbles appeared on TV shows, movies and music videos and even went on tour with Jackson.
He later retired from showbiz when he became 'too strong' to be around people, the center explains.
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Despite his life in the spotlight, Bubbles no longer likes cameras, and will often turn away from them.
"Jackson always maintained ownership of Bubbles, his first and favorite chimpanzee, whom he treated like a son," the center notes.
"After his death, Michael Jackson’s Estate has continued to support the annual care costs for Bubbles at the sanctuary.
"As a physically imposing 185-pound, 4½-foot adult male, Bubbles is now treated as the dominant male in his group of chimpanzees that includes his best friends, Ripley and Oopsie, as well as Boma and Jessie."
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The center explains that Bubbles enjoys painting, as well as 'quiet moments', with his caregivers describing him as 'artistic, gentle and shy'.
"Bubbles will occasionally spit water or throw sand (with amazing accuracy) at strangers, just to see how they react," it adds.