Patrick, a 40-kilogram wombat has become an internet sensation after social media users celebrated his 29th birthday.

Patrick, believed to be Australia's oldest and largest living common wombat, captured fans attention after Tourism Australia added a photo of him on Facebook and wished him happy birthday.

Within the hours thousands of people had liked and shared the photo. The post has now been 'liked' by close to 200,000 people, and shared by over 37,000 users.

The birthday message also noted a fact that Patrick probably would have preferred to remain private.



"Given that Patrick has never had children, or any partners in general [this] probably makes him the oldest living wombat virgin as well! Congrats mate!," it read.

But the admission only helped to increase Patrick's popularity, with one user writing: "never married, never had kids. No wonder he's lived so long!"

Other comments were not as friendly, with another user commenting: "wow that's a BIG rat- imagine finding that under the kitchen sink."

This isn't Patrick's first foray into the international spotlight. Earlier this year, he made it onto a list of the '8 greatest city mascots around the world'.



He was raised by the owner of the Ballarat Wildlife Park in Victoria after being orphaned as a baby.



Despite trying to release Patrick into the wild several times, Patrick couldn't defend himself against other wombats, and now lives permanently at the wildlife park.



