The Guinness Book of World Records is recognizing a special animal native to Australia as the world's oldest wombat in captivity.
"Wain" is 32-years-old and lives at the Satsukiyama Zoo in Ikeda City, Japan, decades after being rescued from his mother's pouch after a car accident at the end of 1989. On Jan. 31, 2022 Wain turned 32-years-old and 86 days, which according to the Guinness Book of World Records is said to be the human equivalent of 100 years.
Guinness says the average age of a wombat in the wild is just around 5-years-old, but it can reach around 20-years-old in captivity. Staff at the Satsukiyama Zoo in Japan were surprised to see Wain live to be so old.
Japan's Ikeda City, located near Osaka, which is south of Tokyo, is the sister city of Launceston, Tasmania in Australia. Wain was brought to Japan from Australia in 1990 with two other wombats named Wonder and Tia, as goodwill ambassadors traveling there to celebrate the relationship between the two cities and the 25th anniversary of the sister city bond.
A typical day for Wain is, he wakes up when a staff member opens the door to his quarters, then he eats breakfast and takes a walk, then naps under the sun. Wain's daily routine could be the secret to his longevity, but that is not certain.
He eats twice a day and his diet is mostly grass, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, pumpkins and some grass.
In a statement from zoo staff they wrote, "Once Wain arrived at our zoo, he was part of the first successful breeding in Japan. And now, he is a Guinness World Records holder. Although Satsukiyama Zoo is the second smallest zoo in Japan, we have become a place known worldwide. Because we are a small zoo, we can look after each animal with meticulous care. We want people to come to visit our vital animals as many times as they like – and it's free entry!"
