A zoo in Baltimore is mourning the death of an African penguin that helped save his kind from extinction by leaving behind more than 200 descendants while living far longer than expected.
The remarkable creature in question is Mr Greedy, who was euthanized because of health problems related to his age: 33, or well past African penguins’ 18-year median life expectancy, said an announcement from his home, the Maryland zoo.
“This one bird was incredibly important to the continued existence of African penguins throughout the world,” the Maryland zoo’s bird curator and program leader, Jen Kottyan, said in a statement. Kottyan said Mr Greedy had a hand in siring 230 descendants across five generations: children, grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren, all but staving off extinction for a species that nonetheless faces a real risk of ceasing to exist within the next decade.
Mr Greedy hatched in 1991 alongside his lifelong mate, Mrs Greedy. Both arrived at the zoo in 1992 and were paired up when they reached reproductive age in 1994, Kottyan said.
The duo’s partnership withstood five US presidencies, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as myriad other significant events both domestic and international.
Kottyan separately told the Washington Post that Mr and Mrs Greedy – African penguins No 821 and 832, respectively – enjoyed “a huge success rate with offspring”.
“They were such a good pair,” Kottyan said to the Post. “Solid and reliable.”
Kottyan explained to the newspaper that Mr Greedy earned his nickname by demonstrating aggression to collect fish as well as materials to nest from his fellow penguins at the zoo.
“He was a go-getter,” Kottyan said, adding that his nickname transferred over to Mrs Greedy because her being paired with him meant she was “guilty by association”.
Mrs Greedy became the Maryland zoo’s oldest living penguin after her mate’s death, the organization said on Thursday. The zoo said Mrs Greedy determines what is next for her through her behavior.
“If she shows interest, the zoo will pair her with a single male in the colony as a companion,” the institution’s statement said.
In her statement provided by the zoo, Kottyan said Mr Greedy’s death was painful. “It’s tough to lose an animal who has been such a welcome presence at our zoo for three decades, but all of us are proud that he is survived by five generations of offspring,” she said.
The Maryland zoo said it is home to North America’s largest colony of African penguins, which are native to the coasts of Namibia and South Africa. The colony has successfully bred more than 1,000 chicks as part of one of the zoo’s signature animal programs – and one of its most popular visitor attractions.
African penguins are considered a protected species, but that has not prevented their numbers from declining dramatically, said the statement from the zoo, which first opened in 1876.
Commercial fishers compete with penguin colonies for access to the creatures’ main food source, imperiling the animals. Penguins are also vulnerable in the wild to ocean pollution – including spills from oil tankers – as well as humans’ disturbing their nesting grounds, the zoo said.
