The oldest-known wild hen on the planet has laid an egg on the ripe age of about 74, her first in 4 years, US wildlife officers mentioned.
The long-winged seabird named Knowledge, a Laysan albatross, returned to Halfway Atoll Nationwide Wildlife Refuge on the north-western fringe of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what consultants estimate could also be her sixtieth egg, the Pacific Area of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service mentioned in a Fb submit this week.
Knowledge and her mate, Akeakamai, had returned to the atoll within the Pacific Ocean to put and hatch eggs since 2006. Laysan albatrosses mate for all times and lay one egg per yr. However Akeakamai has not been seen for a number of years and Knowledge started interacting with one other male when she returned final week, officers mentioned.
“We’re optimistic that the egg will hatch,” Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Halfway Atoll Nationwide Wildlife Refuge mentioned in an announcement. Yearly, thousands and thousands of seabirds return to the refuge to nest and lift their younger.
Albatross mother and father take turns incubating an egg for about seven months. Chicks fly out to sea about 5 to 6 months after hatching. They spend most of their lives flying over the ocean and feeding on squid and fish eggs.
Knowledge was first banded as an grownup in 1956 and has raised as many as 30 chicks, Plissner mentioned.
The everyday lifespan of a Laysan albatross is 68 years, in accordance with the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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