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Celebrating a Special Penguin Birthday at the Detroit Zoo!
December 8, 2025
Animals
By Lauren Brown, Zookeeper
The Detroit Zoo wishes rockhopper penguin Roseanne a happy 40th birthday — or more accurately, hatchday!
Meet Roseanne
Roseanne is a beloved southern rockhopper penguin who hatched on Dec. 11, 1985. She was hand raised at a penguin facility in California. When she was about 7 months old, she moved to an aquarium in Orlando where she lived for the first 12 years of her life. Later, in 1998, Roseanne moved to Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. While at Lincoln Park Zoo, Roseanne hatched her first penguin chick in 2003.
Over the course of Roseanne’s life she has produced 11 chicks, six of whom are still living. She currently has 27 living descendants, including eight great-grandchicks! That’s a legacy worth celebrating.
A Special Zoo Birthday
Roseanne has called the Detroit Zoo home since 2011, and today, she lives with 90 other penguins at the Detroit Zoo’s Polk Penguin Conservation Center. Among those are two of her sons, Finn and Casper, who hatched at Lincoln Park Zoo.
On Dec. 11, 2025, Roseanne is celebrating her 40th hatchday — an exceptionally special milestone as Roseanne is one of the oldest rockhoppers in human care. Roseanne is currently tied for the oldest living southern rockhopper penguin in North America, with one other female turning 40 on the same day. Roseanne is a very sweet penguin, and we are excited to celebrate this milestone with her!
Get to Know Rockhoppers
Southern rockhopper penguins are native to the remote islands off the southern coasts of South America, but in the wild their numbers are declining, earning them a “vulnerable” conservation status. Zoos and aquariums work together to protect the species through a coordinated Species Survival Plan, which manages the population across facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Today, there are approximately 370 southern rockhopper penguins living in 19 institutions throughout North America, including 18 that call the Detroit Zoo home. You can visit all the rockhoppers — especially Roseanne — at the Polk Penguin Conservation Center. Plan your visit today and connect further with daily feedings at the penguin habitat!
