One of the oldest penguins in the UK, Mrs Wolowitz, killed by fox

35-year-old Mrs Wolowitz, one of the oldest-known penguins in the UK, was killed after a fox broke into her enclosure and attacked her, Edinburgh Zoo has announced

“Sadly, we lost her last night after a fox broke into our penguin enclosure. Thankfully, the rest of our colony are unharmed and are doing well," Edinburgh zoo said in a tweet on Thursday night, “Her massive personality will be missed.”

Mrs Wolowitz, named after a fictional character from the TV series The Big Bang Theory, was born in the year 1987. She was among the many Northern Rockhopper penguins - a species native to the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans -

at the Edinburgh Zoo.



Northern Rockhoppers have a life expectancy of 15-20 years in the wild, and Mrs Wolowitz was the oldest penguin at the zoo. She produced her only child, Mr Green, in 1991. She was four years old.

Reports from UK said the fox managed to breach the boundary of the enclosure, where Mrs Wolowitz lived along with 100 other penguins. All the other birds were unharmed.

Edinburgh zoo said it would look at what more it could do to prevent future attacks. The zoo's Penguin Rock has Europe's largest outdoor penguin pool.

Northern Rockhopper penguins are an endangered species because of ice melt in polar regions and due to changes in marine ecosystems and overfishing.