Record holders lost in 2025: heroic animals, fearless explorers and oldest people
We’ve said goodbye to some very special record holders this year.
As we look back on all that’s happened in 2025, let’s take a moment to remember the Guinness World Records family members we’ve lost this year…
World’s oldest person
In January, we learned of the passing of Tomiko Itooka (Japan).
She was the world’s oldest woman and oldest person until she died at the age of 116 at a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyōgo Prefecture.
Tomiko was born in Osaka on 23 May 1908 during the reign of Emperor Meiji.
She had claimed her records in August 2024.
Heroic Hurricane
In February, we lost heroic dog Hurricane, who won fame for defending the president when an intruder scaled the walls of the White House.
The Belgian Malinois, who was the most decorated K-9 officer in US history, sadly died at the age of 16.
He became a record breaker in 2022 as one of the first recipients of the Animals in War & Peace Distinguished Service Medal during a prestigious ceremony at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
During his military service with now-retired Secret Service agent Marshall Mirarchi, he was a US Secret Service Uniformed Division K-9 Officer whose heroic actions on the night of 22 October 2014 will always be remembered.
Hurricane leapt into action to defend then-President Barack Obama and the First Family when an intruder scaled the perimeter of the White House and began making their way towards the famous residence.
He subdued the intruder until his human colleagues could make an arrest, but suffered numerous injuries as the intruder repeatedly punched and kicked him, swung him round and slammed him to the ground.
Hurricane continued to struggle with hip problems and had to have all four of his incisors replaced with titanium. He retired from service the following year but continued to work with Marshall to help others through their non-profit K9 Hurricane’s Heroes.
Find more stories about amazing record-breaking animals in our dedicated section.
Oldest nun
In May, we said goodbye to Inah Canabarro Lucas (Brazil), who had taken over from Tomiko as the world’s oldest woman and oldest person.
She was also the world’s oldest nun.
Image credit: LongeviQuest
Inah was the second oldest nun ever documented in history and was believed to be the last surviving person who was born in 1908.
Hollywood horse
In June, the world’s oldest horse, who was once owned by Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds, died after reaching his 40th birthday.
Mokie the Arabian horse tragically died not very long after his record was verified.
Mokie in 2024
He was originally named Mohawk when he was born on actor Reynolds’ farm on 21 February 1985.
He was the star’s personal horse and lived on the farm until 1992 when he was sold on.
He eventually found his way to Jupiter, Florida, where he lived out his golden years with Arica Dzama and her family.
He died aged 40 years and 83 days, which is roughly equivalent to a human living to be 115.
Iconic space jumper
In July, Felix Baumgartner (Austria), who made history by jumping from the edge of space, died in a tragic accident.
He became an iconic record holder on 14 October 2012 when he jumped from a capsule at the edge of space, 38,969.4 m (127,852 ft) above New Mexico, USA.
The daredevil fell 36,402.6 m (119,431.1 ft) for 4 min 20 sec before deploying his parachute and landing safely back on Earth, earning him the record for farthest distance in freefall without a drogue.
The epic stunt – the Red Bull Stratos mission - also earned him the record for fastest speed in freefall after he hit a speed of 1,357.6 km/h (843.6 mph).
It saw Felix break other records too, including first human to break the sound barrier in freefall, highest altitude untethered outside a vehicle and largest balloon with a human on board.
Felix tragically died after losing control of his motorised paraglider.
Famous feline
One of the internet’s favourite cats was lost in September.
Maru had won over the internet by squishing himself into tiny boxes and earned himself the record for most views for an animal on YouTube.
As of 22 September 2016, his videos had been watched over 325 million times.
While he may have lost his record to other entertaining animals, he maintained a loyal following on his YouTube channel, Mugumogu.
A very long and loving marriage
One half of a record-breaking couple died in October.
Brazil’s Manoel Angelim Dino, who held the record for longest marriage for a living couple (different sexes) alongside his wife Maria de Sousa Dino, passed away at the age of 106 years and 95 days.
Image credit: LongeviQuest
Manoel and Maria, 102, had be married for nearly 85 years.
Find more stories about the world’s oldest people in our Human Body section.
Wainui leaves a legacy
We also learned about the loss of Wainui the alpaca in October.
He had been recognized as the oldest living alpaca in captivity earlier in the year.
Wainui lived in New Zealand with his owners Vicki and Alex Cordier.
But when he died in September at the age of 27 years 267 days, he was also the oldest alpaca in captivity ever, meaning his legacy lives on.
Beauty lived a life full of love
Another record-breaking animal was lost in November – Beauty, the oldest living deer in captivity.
She lived a remarkable 27 years in Canada with the Dancsok family.
Beauty lived her entire life with the family, even befriending a barn cat named Ginger and taking rides in the family car.
Epic ocean explorer
In November, tributes were paid to record-breaking ocean explorer Karlis Bardelis (Latvia).
Karlis, a coordinator of the Ocean Rowing Society International (ORSI), had been diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier this year.
His legacy will live on way beyond his tragic death at the age of 40.
Rowing around the world, he broke various records, including being part of the first team to row the South Atlantic Ocean, spending the most days at sea in a single ocean rowing expedition and becoming the first person to row across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia.