Australia Zoo's 'Rhino' Makes World Record, Becomes Oldest Living Rhinoceros Iguana at 40

Beating the odds, a rhino iguana named Rhino who will recently turn 41 years old in captivity has become the oldest living rhino iguana in captivity. Usually, rhino iguanas live for 16 or 17 years in captivity. Previously, the oldest living rhino iguana in captivity was 23 years old. However, the 40-year-old steely grey coloured Rhino living in Australia Zoo in Queensland has broken the previous record and now holds the Guinness World Record of being the oldest rhino in captivity.

Rhino was born in the year 1980 on February 23 in Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. He was later transferred to Australia Zoo in Queensland in 1993 at the age of 13. Currently, he resides at the same zoo.

The island of Hispaniola which is shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti has the most number of rhino iguanas. Although they generally live till the age of 17, some members of Cyclura (rock iguana) have been found to live till the age of 80.

Tweeting about the achievement, the official handle of Australia Zoo shared some pictures of the zoo staff members with the rhino iguana. They can be seen holding the certificate from GWR which establishes that the rhino iguana now holds a world record.

The tweet said that Rhino is a ‘special part’ of the Australia Zoo. They also shared a picture of Rhino where he can be seen snacking on hibiscus flowers, which is said to be his favourite snack.

“Congratulations, Rhino,” the tweet said.

According to the GWR website, the record was registered on November 29, 2020. However, the Australia Zoo made the announcement on Tuesday, January 19.

TV personality and zookeeper Bindi Irwin also shared the picture of Rhino on her official Twitter handle. She said that the rhino iguana loves basking in the sun and eating his favourite hibiscus flowers. Her husband and fellow zookeeper Chandler Powell was also present in the photographs with the 40-year-old rhino iguana.

Congratulatory messages started pouring in for the rhino iguana as people were excited to receive this news.

A Twitter user named Robin King congratulated Rhino and said that he deserves the extra treat.

Another commenter called the achievement of rhino iguana ‘awesome.’

One commenter told Bindi that Rhino seems to love them too. She said that it appears that they give love to these animals.

Bindi is the daughter of Steve Irwin who was an Australian conservationist. Steve was famously called Crocodile Hunter. His death was tragic as the conservationist passed away while he was filming in the Great Barrier Reef after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb.

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