It takes a village to raise a child - but apparently, only one penguin to create the village. Maryland Zoo's "Mr. Greedy" died this week after fathering 230 penguins and helping rebuild the species' population in zoos across North America, officials said in a news statement.
At 33 years old, "Mr. Greedy," was the oldest penguin at the zoo far surpassing the average penguin age of 18 years old. He lived to see five generations of offspring fathered through the zoo's African Penguin Species Survival Plan.
"This one bird was incredibly important to the continued existence of African penguins throughout the world," Jen Kottyan, Maryland Zoo's bird curator said. "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."
"Mr. Greedy" was mated with a female penguin known as "Mrs. Greedy," two years after they arrived at the zoo in 1992.
"They had been paired up from the time they hit reproductive age in 1994," Kottyan said.
A lifelong pair, the zoo said, they are closely monitoring "Mrs. Greedy's" response and behavior after his death and will pair her with a single male penguin if she shows interest in companionship.
Late last month Sphen, one-half of the world's most famous gay penguin couple, died in Australia leaving behind his partner Magic. Aquarium staff said they took Magic to see Sphen's body so he could understand "his partner wouldn't return."
Maryland Zoo said they are home to one of the largest colonies of African penguins in North America and has successfully bred more than 1,000 chicks. There are about 10,000 breeding pairs left in the world, and the endangered African penguin is at risk of extinction by 2035.
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