Wisdom, the world’s oldest documented wild hen at 74 years outdated, has laid what consultants estimate to be her sixtieth egg, based on US wildlife officers.
The Laysan albatross, a long-winged seabird, has returned to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, positioned close to the northwestern boundary of the Hawaiian Archipelago.
It was her first in 4 years, within the Pacific Region of the US Fish & Wildlife Service stated in a put up on Facebook earlier this week.
Since 2006, Wisdom and her associate Akeakamai had usually visited the atoll within the Pacific Ocean for egg-laying and hatching.
Laysan albatrosses, identified for mating for all times, sometimes lay one egg yearly. However, officers famous that Akeakamai has been absent for a number of years, and upon her return final week, Wisdom was noticed interacting with a brand new male.
Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in an announcement stated that, “We are optimistic that the egg will hatch.”
The refuge serves as a nesting floor for tens of millions of seabirds yearly, reported The Associated Press.
Albatross mother and father share the duty of incubating their egg, a course of that lasts roughly seven months. Once hatched, chicks take 5 to 6 months to develop earlier than embarking on their first flight over the ocean, the place they spend most of their lives feeding on squid and fish eggs.
Wisdom, an albatross first banded as an grownup in 1956, has efficiently raised as much as 30 chicks over her exceptional lifetime, based on Plissner.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration signifies that Laysan albatrosses sometimes dwell for 68 years.
