By John Salak –
Hats off to motherhood. Some just can’t get enough of it at any age. Consider Windom, for example. This Laysan albatross at 74 is reportedly the oldest known wild bird in existence. Yet, mature motherhood is for the birds—literally. That didn’t stop her from returning to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Hawaiian Islands recently and laying her first egg in four years, setting something of a record in the process, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services.
Wildlife officials estimate it is the 60th egg Wisdom has laid in her lifetime and they’re optimistic it will hatch. Good for her.
Of course, Wisdom’s feat begs the question of what other animals are popping out offspring exceptionally late in life. Glad you asked. Yes, it’s admittedly difficult to get a precise handle on these records but poking around the internet did provide some interesting takes.
Female orcas by their 40s, for example, are usually pretty chill when it comes to motherhood. But an orca named Slick that frequents the waters north of Seattle surprised experts at the Center for Whale Research when she had a newborn calf in 2014. While it is impossible to be certain, Slick could have been the oldest known orca mother. She is certainly the oldest in her population that whale center experts claim is the best-studied group in the world.
Susie, a chimpanzee who resided at the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas, is no wallflower when it comes to mature motherhood. She, in fact, may hold the record for the oldest mother to give birth to her kind. In 2010 at the ripe old age of 56, Susie had a daughter named Siri. This beats chimps in the wild by a good decade, as they generally stop having young ones in their 40s.
While Susie’s efforts were notable, a flatback turtle in Queensland, Australia was recently recorded laying 61 eggs at the age of 60.
Experts noted that this was “well above average for flatbacks.” But they were quick to add a caveat. It’s unclear how long flatbacks live in the wild, but they note that if these turtles are like other sea turtles, they need decades before they reach breeding age waiting may not be that strange.
Perhaps not surprisingly, sometimes competition makes this old-mothering thing messy. Chit Sa Yar, an Asian elephant in Myanmar, was estimated by government officials to be nearly 65 when she gave birth in 1986, claiming a disputed record for her species. Some, however, claim that these officials played fast and loose with Chit Sa Yar’s actual age, adding on a few years to claim the title from other deserving recipients.
Galapagos tortoises for their part are well-recognized for their longevity, so maybe advanced motherhood isn’t all that unique. Nonetheless, a female tortoise in Australia known as T3 was roughly 90 when her first baby hatched in 2011. This momma went on a few years later to have two more offspring at the age of 94. This age is mature by anyone’s standards, but Australian wildlife officials stressed that her mate was only in his 40s, potentially lending aid and comfort to his older partner.
These examples of mature motherhood undoubtedly have some people asking about records for mature motherhood in humans. The answer gets a little tricky. A 74-year-old woman from southern India did give birth to twins in 2019, which some claim gives her the title. Others maintain that they have given birth at the same age or even older. All of this is well beyond what medical professionals describe as geriatric pregnancy, which comes into play at 35 and over.
All of this, of course, pales in comparison to the oldest fathers. Forget the likes of Robert De Niro and Bernie Eccleston, who were having children well into the 70s and 80s. Australian pensioner Les Oswald holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest father at 92 and 10 months. The happy occasion occurred in 1992 when he had his ninth child with a Fijian woman he met through a dating service.
Go figure.
