OMA, a female king penguin considered the world’s oldest penguin in zoos, has died at the age of 46 in western Germany.
A spokesman for the Wuppertal Zoo said their research showed that Oma was by far the oldest member of the king penguins at any zoo.
That species of penguin lives in the wild for up to 20 years on average, a spokesman said. According to his knowledge, now the oldest penguin in zoos is 37 years old.
Generations of zoo workers have taken care of Oma and it is not remembered what name she had before because they have been calling her Oma (grandmother) for years.
Her egg was taken from Antarctica, hatched in South Africa, and arrived in Wuppertal via the Netherlands in 1975, when she was one year old. The zoo bought 12 penguins at the time.
Oma hatched three penguins.
She has been eating little lately and has avoided hanging out with other penguins and was put to sleep last week.
Rest in peace Oma.