Featured Image Credit: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Topics: Weird, Guinness World Record, Animals
Ali Condon
Topics: Weird, Guinness World Record, Animals
Sir Patrick Stewart has an OBE, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Grammy and two Oliviers, but not a Guinness World Record.
That honour has been given to Sir Patrick Stewart the mouse.
Yes, a little Pacific pocket mouse from San Diego Zoo, who just so happens to be named after the actor, is now a Guinness World Record holder.
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'Pat' the mouse has become the oldest living mouse in captivity as he gets close to ten years old - though he's nine years and 211 days old, to be exact.
The little rodent is almost two years older than the previous Guinness World Record holder in that category, 'Ian McKellen'.
Nah, only joking, but wouldn't that have been something?
'Pat' was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records on Wednesday (8 February) with a small ceremony - though for 'Pat', it was just a regular-sized ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, adjudicator Michael Empric commented: "To be able to celebrate Pat and verify that he's old was really amazing."
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'Pat' was born to two wild-caught parents in the first year of San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Centre's work to conserve endangered species.
Although 'Pat' has tried to have his own kids, he hasn't had much luck with the ladies.
Debra Shier, associate director of Recovery Ecology at the San Diego Zoo explained: "He has been paired 32 times with 23 different females and while he exhibited good courtship behaviour (sandbathing, slow approach and digging), females were extremely aggressive in mate pairings with him."
Poor little guy.
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'Pat' did almost mate once, but things didn't go according to plan because he took too long to get things going.
"He came closest to mating in his pairing this year as a nine-year-old male and may have mated if the trial wasn't stopped due to a time limit of two and a half hours," Shier explained.
He's literally the oldest mouse in captivity, give him some time to get revved up!
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Still, 'Pat' is an anomaly to his species, with most Pacific pocket mice lasting just four to six years in captivity, and two years in the wild.
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The Pacific pocket mouse is the smallest species of mouse in North America.
The declining breed is very important to the ecosystem as it helps to disperse plant seeds and encourage plant growth in their habitat.
"It's been a herculean effort to do conservation with this species," said Shier of the San Diego Zoo.
In 2022, Shier's conservation team helped to produce 31 litters of the species - making a grand total of 117 babies.