AAP
Penguins, we know, can handle the cold but their home at Melbourne Zoo proved too chilly for one keeper who was taken to hospital with hypothermia after diving in their enclosure.

The keeper emerged cold, shivering and with a headache after spending 40 minutes carrying out a routine clean of the enclosure on Wednesday afternoon and was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.
A zoo spokeswoman said the keeper had worked there for two years and regularly dived in the 18 degree water in the penguin enclosure without any problems.

This time, however, a short summer wetsuit without a hood was not enough protection for the 31-year-old.
"She came out very cold and shivering and we have emergency procedures which were put in place and called an ambulance to take her to hospital for a check," the zoo spokeswoman said.

Workmates warmed her in the staff room with clothes fresh out of a dryer while waiting for the ambulance.
"We gave her some oxygen to help her breathing and wrapped her in space blankets to warm her up," Paramedic Shelly Brown said.

"As a precaution we put a drip in her arm."

She was discharged from hospital late in the afternoon and has not been given any restrictions on diving again, the zoo spokeswoman said.

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