A Pacific pocket mouse named "Pat" in California has won a big title after winning a Guinness World Record for longevity on Wednesday. The small mouse, who is 9 years and 210 days old as of February 9, 2023, was certified by Guinness World Records as the longest-living mouse in human care, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Pat was born on July 14, 2013, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where he has lived his entire life as part of a conservation breeding programme.
According to the Guinness World Record, the mouse, who was named Pat after "Star Trek" actor Patrick Stewart, is almost two years older than the previous oldest mouse ever recorded, Fritzy (1977-1985), who was owned by Bridget Beard (UK) and lived to the age of 7 years and 225 days.
Pat is a Pacific pocket mouse, which is North America's smallest mouse species and was thought to be extinct until a small population was rediscovered in 1994. Although Pat has never sired a litter himself, "he still tries," according to Dr. Debra Shier, who monitors Pat at the breeding facility.
"While he displayed good courtship behaviour (sandbathing, a slow approach, and digging), females were extremely aggressive in their mate pairings with him," explained Dr Shier.
"He came closest to mating in his pairing this year as a nine-year-old male and may have mated if the trial wasn't stopped due to a time limit of two and a half hours."
A Pacific pocket mouse can live up to four or six years in captivity, but only one to two years on average in the wild.
The name of the critically endangered rodent, which weighs about the same as three pennies, comes from the cheek pouches it uses to hold food and nesting supplies.
