Knowledge, World’s Oldest Recognized Wild Chook, Noticed As soon as Once more At Age 71

Knowledge, a Laysan albatross believed to be the world’s oldest wild hen, has returned once more to the Halfway Atoll Nationwide Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced Thursday.

The 71-year-old, who was noticed on Thanksgiving Day, has reappeared on the identical nest web site within the North Pacific for many years, the company wrote on Fb. Over the course of her life, she’s raised round 30 chicks. Final yr, scientists discovered that she had turn into a grandmother after one in all her offspring was noticed serving to increase a chick of its personal.

Nonetheless, Knowledge’s longtime mate, Akeakamai ― whose title means “lover of knowledge” within the Hawaiian language ― has not been seen on the wildlife refuge this yr. The pair’s most up-to-date chick hatched in early 2021, when Knowledge was no less than 70.

Scientists can determine Knowledge through an aluminum ID fixed round her ankle. Famend ornithologist Chandler Robbins first banded her in 1956 and gave her a brand new band in 2002. Robbins died in 2017 on the age of 98, greater than six a long time after first assembly Knowledge.

“I prefer to suppose that in all her years Knowledge has discovered to keep away from a lot of the hazards that threaten seabirds,” Robbins advised Residing Chook journal shortly earlier than his demise. He famous that upon initially encountering Knowledge, she was nesting at a location properly protected against tsunamis however near overhead wires and site visitors, which might pose dangers to seabirds. When he recaptured her years later, he mentioned, she had moved to a brand new nesting web site free from such hazards.

There are some Knowledge truthers who don’t consider it might be the identical hen returning yr after yr, The Washington Submit reported in 2016. Skeptics posit that somebody probably switched the ID band to a brand new albatross in some unspecified time in the future. However scientists appear assured she’s the true deal, whereas acknowledging that her case is uncommon.

“Albatrosses are extraordinarily long-lived however the uncommon factor about Knowledge is she’s a lot older than different birds,” seabird ecologist Richard Phillips advised The New York Instances final yr.

After Knowledge, the next-oldest wild albatross identified to Phillips was 61, he mentioned.

On social media, information of Knowledge’s return this yr was met with celebration and appreciation for her resilience.