AT the record breaking age of at least 46 years, the female king penguin named Grandma died in the Wuppertal Zoo in Germany.

According to research by the institution, the animal was by far the oldest king penguin in a zoo worldwide.

In nature, they have a life expectancy of up to 20 years, said a zoo spokesman Wednesday.

As far as he knows, the oldest living king penguin in human care is currently 37 years old.

Generations of animal keepers looked after Grandma and her fellow animals, so today it is no longer known how she was called in younger years.

It was not yet hatched from the egg, according to the information collected in the Antarctic.

Hatched in South Africa, it came to Wuppertal via the Netherlands in 1975 at the age of at least 1, when the zoo purchased 12 king penguins for a new facility.

Grandma then raised three young animals herself.

According to the zoo, the elderly had hardly eaten lately and had no longer taken part in group life. After her condition had not improved despite treatment, she was put to sleep.

A deformed beak, restricted mobility and visual impairment due to cataracts have not prevented them from actively participating in the life of the colony in recent years, according to the zoo.(SD-Agencies)