27-Year-Old New Zealand Alpaca Outsmarts Rain, Shatters World Longevity Record

Guinness World Record holder Hawthornden Wainui, a 27-year-old alpaca from New Zealand, spends his retirement dodging drizzle and side-eyeing sheep, making him the oldest captive alpaca on earth. Trending queries like "oldest alpaca ever" and "what's the secret to alpaca longevity" meet their match on a farm in Wainui, where Vicki Cordier calls him "a bit of a grumpy old man" who now prefers goat Barney and sheep Squeak to his former lookout life.
Trading lookout duty for rainy-day retreats, Wainui's secret longevity weapon appears to be an uncanny instinct for shelter and the company of oddball friends. New Zealand's oldest alpaca now stars in "how to keep alpacas healthy" and "do alpacas live longer with goats" searches, while his owner's belief in comfort over chaos makes every drizzle a red-carpet moment. "The first little bit of rain, he'll be inside sitting it out," Vicki observes, as sheep and goats form his unofficial security detail.
At 27 years and 185 days old, Wainui the alpaca outpaces entire herds, outwaits the rain, and prefers sheep and goat council to any youthful alpaca uprising.