Nature
PUBLISHED
Thought this week’s celebrations had ended with the Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed festivities for the birthday of the world’s oldest pygmy hippo? Well, you’d better put your gladrags back on and get yourselves back on the party train, because it’s time to celebrate Lazzie, the world’s oldest little penguin, who’s just turned a whopping 25 years old.
Twenty-five might not sound all that “whopping” in comparison to a human, but it’s pretty darn impressive for a little penguin (Eudyptula minor). The smallest of all the penguin species, these wee birds typically live for less than 20 years in managed care, and less than a decade in the wild.
Lazzie has spent her life living at Cincinnati Zoo, having been the first ever little penguin to hatch there back in 2000. In a social media post celebrating her birthday, the zoo – which is home to the largest colony of little penguins in North America – credits its staff for Lazzie’s long-term success: “The excellent care that she receives from Team Bird has certainly extended her life!”
And while she might be more advanced in age than the rest of her colony in Roo Valley, who range between 0 to 20 years old, that doesn’t seem to deter her, with the zoo saying that Lazzie is “still keeping up with the other penguins.”
Lazzie hasn’t reached any great heights with her age, though; little penguins are usually only around 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) tall on average, less than a third of the height of emperor penguins, the tallest living penguin species. This, alongside their weight – a little over a kilogram (2.2 pounds) – and their shiny indigo blue-tinted bodies, has lent them the nickname “fairy penguins.”
However, they might not be the smallest penguin species ever to have lived. That title, as far as science has been able to determine, might be shared with Wilson’s little penguin (Eudyptula wilsonae). Discovered in 2023 from 3-million-year-old fossilized skulls found in New Zealand, scientists believe these extinct birds were likely the same size as today’s little penguins – and might even be their ancestors.
If that’s the case, then they haven’t journeyed too far from their homeland in the last 3 million years, with little penguins only found in New Zealand and Australia. Unfortunately, their home here isn’t entirely safe; although the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, little penguins still face threats, the greatest of which is dogs.
The good news is that they’re also protected in both Australia and New Zealand – and as little Lazzie shows, they can reach some pretty grand old ages when under the right care.
