World's oldest female chimpanzee called Susie turns 70 in Kansas Zoo... and is on track to be the oldest ever member of her species

A Kansas zoo is celebrating the 70th birthday of the oldest female chimpanzee in captivity on June 6. 

The Sunset Zoo in Manhattan is throwing a party at its chimpanzee habitat today in honor of Susie's 70th birthday. 

'Susie has always been a perfect caretaker. From being a wonderful mom to being the leader of the troop, her other troop mates respect and listen to our grandma of the troop,' Scott Shoemaker, Sunset Zoo Director told KSNT. 

Susie is the second oldest chimpanzee behind Joao - a male primate that lives at The Jane Goodall Institute South Africa.

However, she is 11 years older than Europe's oldest female chimpanzee, Coco. 

Susie has lived at the Sunset Zoo since 1974 and is one of the five primates that live in the location's habitat.

She's given birth to three chimps during her life and made headlines in August 2010 after she gave birth to a baby girl named Nia when she was 56 years old. 

'We took Susie off birth control due to health issues a few years ago, and we didn't think she would get pregnant because of her age,' said former Sunset Zoo curator Mark Ryan at the time.

'Interestingly, we haven't observed Susie go through any type of menopause, and she was menstruating so irregularly that we didn't think pregnancy would be on the cards.'

Nia is no longer at the zoo, but Susie's mate, Julian, still lives in the Sunset Zoo chimpanzee habitat.

Susie successfully breastfed Nia despite having a cataract in her eye in 2010, but she now receives special care from zookeepers.

'Susie does get additional supplements such as Ensure drinks and is being treated for arthritis, but for her age, she is remarkable,' Sunset Zoo Animal Curator Kirk Nemechek told KSNT.

Shoemaker spoke with WIBW last year and revealed that guests who visit Susie may watch her move around the yard or play with a blanket.

Susie has surprised zookeepers at Sunset Zoo for years for reasons that include her current age and how old she was when she gave birth to Nia.

The 70 year old primate exceeded the average lifespan of a chimpanzee in the wild, which according to study.com, is around 40 years.

She also surpassed the lifespan of a chimpanzee in captivity, which according to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is between 50 and 60 years.

It is unclear if Susie has developed any other health problems since she gave birth to Nia, but she remains comfortable in the Sunset Zoo's sanctuary.  

Daily Mail has reached out to the Sunset Zoo for comment.