Happy 30th! African Penguin At New England Aquarium Hits Milestone Birthday

BOSTON (CBS) -- A penguin at the New England Aquarium hit a miraculous life milestone on Wednesday.

Lambert, an African penguin who hatched on this day in 1992, turned 30. African penguins usually live between 10 to 15 years when they are in the wild.

He was named after Lambert's Bay, which is a small fishing town on the western coast of South Africa.

Because of his advanced age, he has received close attention from the aquarium staff over the last couple of years. He had double cataract surgery in October 2019 and still gets daily eye drops.

Lambert is the fifth-oldest penguin at the Aquarium.

African penguins are considered an endangered species due to the depletion of food from overfishing, climate change and pollution. Over the last 30 years, the number of African penguins breeding in South Africa has declined by 73% from 42,500 breeding pairs in 1991 to 10,400 pairs in 2021.