National Aviary's first African penguin Stanley has died
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The first African penguin to call Pittsburgh's National Aviary home has died.
Stanley had been dealing with age-related spine and joint issues for about a year and a half, the aviary said. He turned 20 in 2021, which is considered to be "geriatric" for his species.
"While he made progress over the last several months, providing us with hope and encouragement to continue treatment efforts, he ultimately was not able to progress to recovery," the aviary wrote on Facebook Thursday.
The aviary said "with deepest sorrows," its veterinary team had to make the difficult but humane decision that was in Stanley's best interest.
Stanley's mate Dottie "remained by his side throughout," the aviary wrote. She's now back in Penguin Point, "thriving with the rest of the colony."
Stanley arrived at the aviary in 2001 as just a two-month-old bird. He was named Stanley after the Stanley Cup, and was affectionately called Stan.
All African penguins at the National Aviary are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan, which tries to tackle conservation challenges from human-caused pressures like overharvesting of fish and disasters like oil spills.
In November, the aviary hatched two penguins, calling the chicks a spark of hope for a species that's expected to become functionally extinct in the wilds of Southern Africa by 2035.
