An Edinburgh Zoo keeper moves one of the penguins from their enclosure to a temporary home
Keepers at Edinburgh Zoo have "picked up a penguin" - to move them to a new home.
The 29 gentoo penguins were carried through the zoo to a temporary site while their pool is being fixed.
They were installed at Barbary Rock, the old rock hyrax enclosure which has been converted into a temporary home.
Two-thirds of the penguin colony, including six king and 50 gentoos, are temporarily moving to zoos in Belfast, Gloucestershire and Odense in Denmark while a leak in the outdoor pool at their Scottish residence is repaired.
Another 50 of the gentoos are leaving the colony as part of their normal breeding cycle.
The pool is being drained naturally over five weeks, allowing cracks to be identified, and work is expected to be finished by summer.
Colin Oulton, bird team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "It's actually the quickest and kindest way to carry out the move.
"Transferring the penguins in this way means the birds will be handled only once and that the move will be carried out in a matter of minutes.
"Barbary Rock even has the addition of a new pool, recently created for our gentoo birds, so we're sure our penguins will be happy in their new home.
"And, as gentoo breeding season is almost here, pebbles and nest rings will be added to the new enclosure next week after the penguins have had time to settle in. We don't know if they will breed, but many of the birds are starting to show typical breeding behaviour, and we have purposely kept established pairs of penguins together."
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Keepers at Edinburgh Zoo have "picked up a penguin" - to move them to a new home.
The 29 gentoo penguins were carried through the zoo to a temporary site while their pool is being fixed.
They were installed at Barbary Rock, the old rock hyrax enclosure which has been converted into a temporary home.
Two-thirds of the penguin colony, including six king and 50 gentoos, are temporarily moving to zoos in Belfast, Gloucestershire and Odense in Denmark while a leak in the outdoor pool at their Scottish residence is repaired.
Another 50 of the gentoos are leaving the colony as part of their normal breeding cycle.
The pool is being drained naturally over five weeks, allowing cracks to be identified, and work is expected to be finished by summer.
Colin Oulton, bird team leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "It's actually the quickest and kindest way to carry out the move.
"Transferring the penguins in this way means the birds will be handled only once and that the move will be carried out in a matter of minutes.
"Barbary Rock even has the addition of a new pool, recently created for our gentoo birds, so we're sure our penguins will be happy in their new home.
"And, as gentoo breeding season is almost here, pebbles and nest rings will be added to the new enclosure next week after the penguins have had time to settle in. We don't know if they will breed, but many of the birds are starting to show typical breeding behaviour, and we have purposely kept established pairs of penguins together."
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