‘Sir Patrick Stewart’ wins Guinness record as world’s oldest captive mouse

A small mouse inhabitant of the San Diego Zoo is breaking a great record.

This Pacific pocket mouse, known by the diminutive name of ‘Pat’, is named after Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart and his image has jumped to the media because he has received the Guinness World Record for the oldest living mouse in human care .

He is 9 years and 211 days old.

The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance made the announcement touting the longevity of Pat, who is recorded as having been born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park on July 14, 2013 under a conservation breeding program.

The Pacific pocket mouse is the smallest mouse species in North America and gets its name from the pouches it uses to transport food and nesting materials. Long thought to have been extinct for 20 years, until small populations were found in 1994 near Dana Point in US Orange County, though it still remains an endangered species.

Debra Shier, associate director of Recovery Ecology at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, told a San Diego television station that her team has worked incredibly hard to keep Pat alive and healthy over the years.

“It has been a big commitment, but it is extremely rewarding,” he said.

Pat was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records on Wednesday with a small ceremony. “Being able to celebrate Pat and verify that he’s old was really amazing,” Guinness World Records judge Michael Empric said. According to Guinness, Pat’s date of birth was confirmed through multiple medical records and animal records. Pat was born to two wild-caught parents in the first year of the zoo’s conservation effort for endangered species. (YO)