SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco penguin that once sported a wetsuit after losing his feathers and who starred in a children’s book has died at the age of 33, officials said this week.
The California Academy of Sciences announced that Pierre the penguin, the oldest bird in the academy’s colony of African penguins, died recently from kidney failure.
In the wild, African penguins have an average lifespan of 15-20 years.
During his lifetime, Pierre had several mates with whom he produced 16 chicks, 27 grand-chicks, and 11 great grand-chicks. His lineage is represented worldwide. African penguins were classified as an endangered species in 2010 and are at very high risk of extinction in the wild.
In 2007, Pierre’s feathers didn’t grow back after a difficult molt. Without his waterproof feathers, Pierre had trouble keeping warm and the other birds in the colony began to pick on him.