{"id":315350,"date":"2025-11-30T00:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T00:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/315350\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T00:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T00:12:11","slug":"lazzie-the-worlds-oldest-fairy-penguin-turns-a-whopping-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/315350\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazzie, The World’s Oldest “Fairy Penguin”, Turns A Whopping 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thought this week\u2019s celebrations had ended with the Hungry Hungry Hippos-themed festivities for the birthday of the world\u2019s oldest pygmy hippo<\/a>? Well, you\u2019d better put your gladrags back on and get yourselves back on the party train, because it\u2019s time to celebrate Lazzie, the world\u2019s oldest little penguin, who\u2019s just turned a whopping 25 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Twenty-five might not sound all that \u201cwhopping\u201d in comparison to a human, but it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> celebrating her birthday, the zoo \u2013 which is home to the largest colony of little penguins in North America \u2013 credits its staff for Lazzie\u2019s long-term success: \u201cThe excellent care that she receives from Team Bird has certainly extended her life!\u201d<\/p>\n

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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\u2019t seem to deter her, with the zoo saying that Lazzie is \u201cstill keeping up with the other penguins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lazzie hasn\u2019t 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 \u2013 a little over a kilogram (2.2 pounds) \u2013 and their shiny indigo blue-tinted bodies, has lent them the nickname \u201cfairy penguins<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s little penguin (Eudyptula wilsonae). Discovered in 2023<\/a> from 3-million-year-old fossilized skulls found in New Zealand, scientists believe these extinct birds were likely the same size as today\u2019s little penguins \u2013 and might even be their ancestors.<\/p>\n

\"Penguin<\/p>\n

Little penguins are pretty mini compared to emperor penguins.<\/p>\n

Image credit: \u00a9IFLScience, using data from Tess Cole, CC BY-ND, and Dr Simone Giovanardi<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case, then they haven\u2019t 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\u2019t entirely safe; although the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, little penguins still face threats, the greatest of which is dogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The good news is that they\u2019re also protected in both Australia and New Zealand \u2013 and as little Lazzie shows, they can reach some pretty grand old ages when under the right care.<\/p>\n