Cookie (cockatoo)
{{Short description|Oldest known Major Mitchell's cockatoo}}
{{Infobox animal
| name = Cookie
| image = Lophocroa leadbeateri -Brookfield Zoo-6.jpg
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| caption = Cookie in 2008
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| species = Pink cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri)
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| gender = Male
| hatch_date = {{birth date|1933|6|30}}
| hatch_place = Taronga Zoo
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|8|27|1933|6|30}}
| death_place = Brookfield Zoo, Illinois, U.S.
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| known = Oldest cockatoo in captivity, former oldest living parrot
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| owner = Brookfield Zoo
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Cookie (June 30, 1933 – August 27, 2016) was a male pink cockatoo (also known as Major Mitchell's cockatoo) residing at Brookfield Zoo, near Chicago, Illinois, United States. He was believed to be the oldest member of his species alive in captivity, at the age of 82 in June 2015,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ_H09XyeL4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/hQ_H09XyeL4 |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|title=Happy 82nd Birthday, Cookie!|date=30 June 2015 |publisher=Brookfield Zoo|access-date=July 3, 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|title=Cookie the Cockatoo turns 79|url=http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-cookie-the-cockatoo-turns-79-20120630,0,4260958.story|publisher=WGN News|access-date=7 July 2012}}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} having significantly exceeded the average lifespan for his kind. He was one of the longest-lived birds on record{{cite web|title=Longevity, ageing, and life history of Cacatua leadbeateri|url=http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Cacatua_leadbeateri|publisher=The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database|access-date=10 March 2011}} and was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living parrot in the world.{{cite web|title=Oldest parrot - living|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-parrot-living|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=3 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704223148/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/oldest-parrot-living|archive-date=4 July 2015}}
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 states longevity for Cookie's species in captivity is on average 40–60 years.{{cite web|url=http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/captivestatus/major_mitchells_cockatoo/|title=Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (Cacatua leadbeateri)|publisher=World Parrot Trust|access-date=23 December 2009}}
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 of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the same year and judged to be one year old at the time.{{cite web|url=http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5426|title=Zoo's oldest resident retires at 76|last=Stach|first=Chris|date=1 October 2009|publisher=Riverside/Brookfield Landmark|access-date=19 December 2009|archive-date=1 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301192142/http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5426|url-status=dead}}
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".{{cite web |last1=Steinberg |first1=Neil |title=Steinberg: Zoo's eldest resident, Cookie the cockatoo, dead at 83 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/2016/8/29/18365230/steinberg-zoo-s-eldest-resident-cookie-the-cockatoo-dead-at-83 |website=Chicago Sun Times |date=30 August 2016 |access-date=20 July 2023}}
In 2007, Cookie was diagnosed with, and placed on medication and nutritional supplements for, osteoarthritis 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.{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Mar17/0,4670,ZooDiets,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322021152/http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Mar17/0%2C4670%2CZooDiets%2C00.html|archive-date=2008-03-22|title=Zoo Beasts Must Battle the Bulge, Too|last=Tanner|first=Lindsey|date=17 March 2008|work=Fox News|access-date=19 December 2009|url-status=dead}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.czs.org/czs/Cookie.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009213655/http://www.czs.org/czs/Cookie.aspx|archive-date=2009-10-09|title=Cookie Cockatoo "Retires"|publisher=Chicago Zoological Society|access-date=19 December 2009}} In 2013, he was still considered to be in good health for his age.{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/11/07/meet-our-oldest-animals-in-chicago/ | work=Chicago Tribune | title=Meet our oldest animals in Chicago | date=7 November 2013}}
Cookie died on August 27, 2016, at 83 years of age.{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-brookfield-zoo-cookie-cockatoo-dead-20160829-column.html|title= Cookie the Cockatoo at Brookfield Zoo dies|date= 29 August 2016|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=29 August 2016}} A memorial at the zoo was unveiled in September 2017.{{cite news |last1=Ruppenthal |first1=Alex |title=Brookfield Zoo to Unveil Statue of Beloved Cookie the Cockatoo |url=https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/09/21/brookfield-zoo-unveil-statue-beloved-cookie-cockatoo |access-date=4 July 2018 |publisher=WTTW Chicago |date=21 September 2017}}
In 2020, Cookie became the subject of a poetry collection by Barbara Gregorich entitled Cookie the Cockatoo: Everything Changes.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7o2OzQEACAAJ|title = Cookie the Cockatoo: Everything Changes|isbn = 9798633708561|last1 = Gregorich|first1 = Barbara|date = 10 April 2020| publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp }}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{YouTube|id = cnF2n461YsM|title = Cookie "Retires" at Brookfield Zoo — Chicago Zoological Society}}
{{Cockatoos}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Cookie (Cockatoo)}}