Cookie (June 30, 1933 – August 27, 2016) was a male
pink cockatoo
Major Mitchell's cockatoo (''Lophochroa leadbeateri''), also known as Leadbeater's cockatoo or the pink cockatoo, is a medium-sized cockatoo that inhabits arid and semi-arid inland areas of Australia, though it is seen regularly in other clima ...
(also known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo) residing at
Brookfield Zoo
Brookfield Zoo, also known as the Chicago Zoological Park, is a zoo located in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois. It houses around 450 species of animals in an area of . It opened on July 1, 1934, and quickly gained international recogn ...
, near
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, United States. He was believed to be the oldest member of his species alive in captivity, at the age of 82 in June 2015,
having significantly exceeded the average lifespan for his kind.
He was one of the longest-lived birds on record
and was recognised by the
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the oldest living parrot in the world.
The next-oldest pink cockatoo to be found in a zoological setting was a 31-year-old female bird located at Paradise Wildlife Sanctuary, England.
Information published by the
World Parrot Trust
The World Parrot Trust is an international charity dedicated to saving parrots.
History
When the Trust was founded in 1989 at Paradise Park in Cornwall, UK, it was decided that the main objective was to promote the survival of all parrot specie ...
states longevity for Cookie's species in captivity is on average 40–60 years.
Life
Cookie was Brookfield Zoo's oldest resident and the last surviving member of the animal collection from the time of the zoo's opening in 1934, having arrived from
Taronga Zoo
Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'.
It ...
of
Sydney,
New South Wales
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, Australia, in the same year and judged to be one year old at the time.
In the 1950s an attempt was made to introduce Cookie to a female pink cockatoo, but Cookie rejected her as "she was not nice to him".
In 2007, Cookie was diagnosed with, and placed on medication and nutritional supplements for,
osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone which affects 1 in 7 adults in the United States. It is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the w ...
and
osteoporosis – medical conditions which occur commonly in aging animals and humans alike,
although it is believed that the latter may also have been brought on as a result of being fed a seed-only diet for the first 40 years of his life, in the years before the dietary requirements of his species were fully understood.
Cookie was "retired" from exhibition at the zoo in 2009 (following a few months of weekend-only appearances) in order to preserve his health, after it was noticed by staff that his appetite, demeanor and stress levels improved markedly when not on public display. He was moved to a permanent residence in the
keepers' office of the zoo's Perching Bird House, although he made occasional appearances for special events, such as his birthday celebration, which was held each June.
In 2013, he was still considered to be in good health for his age.
Cookie died on August 27, 2016, at 83 years of age.
A memorial at the zoo was unveiled in September 2017.
In 2020, Cookie became the subject of a poetry collection by Barbara Gregorich entitled ''Cookie the Cockatoo: Everything Changes''.
See also
*
List of individual birds
This is a list of well-known real birds. For famous fictional birds, see list of fictional birds.
* Águia Vitória, a bald eagle who serves as the mascot for Portuguese football club S.L. Benfica
* Albert Ross, an albatross believed to have bee ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookie (Cockatoo)
1933 animal births
2016 animal deaths
Cockatoos
Individual parrots
Oldest animals
Individual birds in the United States