SEATTLE — Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo announced that Mr. Sea, the oldest male penguin at the zoo, has died.
Mr. Sea was also one of the oldest of his species in North America. He was just a few days shy of his 32nd birthday.
"Because of his advanced age, our dedicated penguin keepers and animal health team members have been closely monitoring Mr. Sea for some time. They noticed during the last several weeks, that his appetite and activity level were down," the zoo said on its website.
The zoo said that because the Humboldt penguin's health was declining, he was humanely euthanized.
The median life expectancy for Humboldt penguins is 17.6 years for both males and females, according to the zoo.
As a standard procedure, the zoo’s animal health team will perform an autopsy to determine factors that contributed to his decline. That information will be shared nationally as part of research on penguins.
There are currently 40 penguins remaining in the zoo's colony.
