WATCH DPTV: CSU treats world’s oldest penguin treated for cancer.

Tess, the world’s oldest African penguin, recently returned to the Pueblo Zoo after undergoing radiation treatment at Colorado State University to treat an aggressive form of skin cancer.

When Tess was born in 1974, Richard Nixon was president and a first-class stamp cost 10 cents. School officials said most African penguins, considered an endangered species, only live to about the age of 20. So when zoo veterinarians discovered and removed a mass from near Tess’ eye, a sample was sent to CSU, where members of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital diagnosed a tumor about the size of a pinto bean on the right side of her face.

A team of veterinarians, residents, interns, staff and students helped prepare Tess and delivered the radiation through a non-invasive procedure.

Tess left the hospital and returned the zoo the same evening, school officials said, and was reunited with her mate, 33-year-old Mongo.