Founding member of penguin colony dies at San Francisco Zoo. ‘Sophisticated gentleman’
The last founding member of a penguin colony at a California zoo and one of the oldest penguins living under human care has died.
Captain EO, a Magellanic penguin living at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens, was an estimated 40 years old when he died on Wednesday, July 6, zoo officials said in a news release. He was the zoo’s oldest Magellanic penguin.
Typically the species lives between 20 to 30 years.
He was the last founding member of the Magellanic penguin colony and was known for his “older sophisticated gentleman” personality.
The zoo said he was part of the “largest and most successful breeding colony of this species in a North American zoo.”
Captain EO came to the zoo in 1984 and was named after a Michael Jackson-themed attraction at Disneyland.
He was brought to the zoo along with 51 other wild Magellanic penguins to begin a new colony on Penguin Island.
In his time at the zoo, he had 26 children, 31 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
“Captain EO was truly a legend and a penguin that has seen generations of penguins succeed him,” CEO and executive director of San Francisco Zoological Society Tanya M. Peterson said in the release. “This is an animal that was much beloved by years of penguin caretakers.”
Captain EO wasn’t like the other penguins though, zoo officials said.
He didn’t steal fish from other birds or push past others during feeding.
“Instead, he would quietly and politely sit on the rocky beach and wait his turn for his meal, then go out for a swim or home. He was one-of-a-kind,” assistant curator of birds Quinn Brown said in the release.
Brown worked with Captain EO for more than 20 years.
“He represented a part of San Francisco Zoo history and the penguin world that cannot ever be forgotten. He has inspired countless guests and caretakers and will be missed by all,” Brown said.
