Oldest Humboldt penguin in the UK celebrates birthday in Cornwall

The oldest Humboldt penguin in the UK is celebrating her 35th birthday today (16 April).

Spneb lives at Paradise Park in Cornwall, where there is currently a colony of twenty penguins of all ages, and is set to get extra fuss from the keepers on her special day.

In the wild these penguins are known to live to between 15 to 20 years of age, but in captivity it can be much longer.

Similar to humans, many issues can crop up in old age, like cataracts and joint pain, all of which receive treatments and medications and care from the staff.

Keeper Georgia said: "Spneb’s name is a fusion of the two types of medication she was on during some intense treatment back in 2007 when she developed a fungal disease called Aspergillosis.

"It took four months to treat, but apart from some minor scaring to her lungs she recovered well.

"The records of all penguins in the UK are kept on a database. This helps to pair together unrelated birds and we can also see their ages.”  

To see Spneb celebrating her special day, you can watch the penguin's live webcam.