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Two chimpanzees at a British zoo celebrated their birthday by tearing into presents and gorging on a giant cake.

The chimpanzees, based at Whipsnade Zoo in London, tucked into a giant cardboard cake containing their favourite treats such as bananas and grapes.

The hairy pair, named Phil and Grant after the Mitchell brothers from Eastenders, were also given colourfully wrapped presents by zookeepers. 

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Are these really all for us? The chimps tear open some of the gifts given to them by their doting keepers

Ooh bananas, my favourite! The other chimp tears into its brightly packaged present excitedly

The gifts contained nuts, seeds and sultanas which the chimps, who were born in 1996, happily ate while monkeying around in their enclosure.

Zookeeper Graeme Williamson said, 'Both Phil and Grant love investigating new things, so the party was an excellent way to encourage their natural inquisitive behaviours and celebrate their 18th birthday.'

The other chimpanzees at the zoo - Nikki, Bonnie, Koko and Elvis - were also invited to the primates' birthday bash, and the whole troop was visibly grinning as they ripped into the cake and presents.

 

Chimpanzees go ape for their birthday presents at Whipsnade Zoo

'Everyone at Whipsnade has a soft spot for the mischievous duo. They are often seen chasing one another around like rowdy teenagers,' said Williamson.

'Grant is known as a bit of a greedy chimp. He loves being the centre of attention and trying to get his hands on more of his favourite treats, especially bananas, grapes and monkey nuts.

'Phil is the smaller and shyer of the two. He can often be seen swinging from ropes in the Zoo's "chimpnasium".'

Now where to begin? The chimpanzee stares wonderingly at the giant cake surrounded by presents given to him by his keepers

Yay, grapes! One of the chimps scoops his favourite fruit from the giant cardboard 'cake'

Check this out! Phil and Grant invite their friends to share in the spoils

I think I'll take... THIS one: One of the chimps makes off with a particularly shiny-looking present, and a second one just to make sure

Phil and Grant were named after Albert Square's most notorious duo by Eastenders actress Pam St Clements when she visited the zoo in 1996.

The two apes are not actually brothers, but both were born on the same day. The life expectancy of a chimpanzee is approximately 45 to 50 years of age, so they will have plenty of other opportunities to unwrap presents.

And they seem to like it so much, chimps at Whipsnade zoo have previously been given gifts on Valentine's Day and at Christmas.