Friday, August 31, 2012

Image of the Day

Fairy Penguin, a photo by spollock61 on Flickr.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Image of the Day

Chinstrap Penguins, a photo by Veerle L on Flickr.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Image of the Day

Penguin on the Beach, a photo by Benjamin Hafele on Flickr.

Feral cats caught near little penguin colonies

By Clare Hesketh

Wed Aug 29, 2012

Feral cats and rats have been trapped near little penguin colonies (file photo)

Photo: Feral cats and rats have been trapped near little penguin colonies (Andy Wallace: ABC News)

Authorities say 25 feral cats have been trapped near little penguin colonies on Kangaroo Island.

Trapping was done over two three-week periods.
The Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Centre says more trapping will be done next month, after penguin chicks have hatched.

Feral cat project officer Helen Achurch said rats were also trapped.
"There's been a couple of studies done that suggest rats have had an impact on little penguin chicks," she said.
"With that number of rats there, that number of cats there ... all these sort of factors are contributing to impacts to the birds in their nesting areas.

"We know that feral cats have significant impact on lots of native fauna around Kangaroo Island. From gut samples we've seen that they take lots of small birds, reptiles and also penguin feathers have been found so we know that they're likely to take some penguins, but we don't have a lot of information on how much impact they're having."

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Penguin dies in zoo kidnap bid

The Humbodt penguin, valued at over £1,000.

Fowl play ... the Humboldt penguin was valued at over £1,000.

Published: 28th August 2012

A SHOCKED penguin is believed to have died of a heart attack when thieves tried to kidnap it from its zoo enclosure.

The ill-fated fowl was found dead by keepers at Cuxhaven Zoo in Germany.
The heavy steel door to its living quarters had been smashed open.
Cops believe burglars broke in between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to nick the Humboldt penguin, valued at more than £1,000.
But a police spokesman said it may also have been “a prank that went badly wrong."

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Image of the Day

Monday, August 27, 2012

Breathtaking images show an unborn elephant, penguin in the womb

Daily Mail

Herald Sun

August 28, 2012

An Asian elephant fetus after 12 months in the womb. Picture: Pioneer Productions/David Barlow Source: Supplied

THEY may be very different beasts, but the creatures in these breathtaking images reveal how surprisingly similar the beginning of life can be in the animal kingdom.

Captured using revolutionary four-dimensional imaging technology and anatomically accurate models, scientists have managed to shed light on the world of mammals inside the womb.

Snug as a bug: A penguin curls up in it's mothers womb. Picture: National Geographic. Source: Supplied

As diverse a bunch as they are - elephant, dolphin and penguin are all shown united by their similar stages of development.

Scientists captured the images for the National Geographic documentary Animals in the Womb, now a book of the same name.

The gestation period for a penguin lasts about 63 days. The females then lay the egg and pass it on to the male penguin while they go off to feed. Picture: National Geographic. Source: Supplied

They were created using a combination of ultrasound scans, computer graphics and small cameras - as well as some carefully created models - to document the animals' development from conception to birth, and give an unparalled glimpse into a world that few of us would ever expect to see.
The documentary explores the marked similarities between very different animals.

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Vancouver Aquarium: Penguin Point Exhibit Behind the Scenes

Watch CTV News; weeknights at 5 p.m. from Monday, August 27^th to Friday, August 31^st for your chance to win a gift certificate to a ‘Behind the Scenes Tour’ of the Vancouver Aquarium’s new Penguin Point exhibit.

Total prize value worth approximately $350.00

If you haven’t met the new African penguins yet, waddle your way to the Vancouver Aquarium and check out Penguin Point, where you can watch these little characters as they lounge on their rocky beach, paddle around and “fly” underwater.

Plus, discover these birds’ amazing adaptations to life at sea, including some of their goofy and distinctive penguin behaviours.

Vancouver Aquarium Penguin

For more info on The Vancouver Aquarium and Penguin Point visit: www.vanaqua.org/penguins

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Image of the Day

Look at me! Look at me!, a photo by SuperGregN on Flickr.

Penguins Gone Rogue

August 26, 2012 Elisabeth Torres

(PENGUINS) JAPAN — Penguins at Suzaka Zoo are giving their keepers a run for their money. A group of 3-month-old chicks keep escaping from their exhibit. This is not the first time penguins have escaped from this zoo, earlier this year a Humboldt penguin manages to escape for 82 days. It seems like the Suzaka zoo needs to up their penguin security! Read on for more about these intelligent animals! — Global Animal

These penguins are keeping their zoo keepers on their toes. Photo Credit: ABC News

ABC News, Akiko Fujita

Some pesky penguins in the Japanese city of Suzaka are acting like characters in a “Madagascar” movie and are giving zookeepers quite the headache with their repeated attempts to break free.

A pair of 3-month old chicks from Suzaka Zoo first escaped earlier this month by jumping off a slide. Zookeepers responded by attaching boards to the foot of the slide, but two days later another chick got out, by crawling under the fence, according to Japanese media reports. Keepers responded a second time, by sealing off the bottom of the fence.

Early this morning, that same bird made yet another successful escape by hopping over the fence. Zookeepers spotted it swimming in a nearby pond a few hours later.

Zoo officials say they plan to keep the four young penguins in an indoor cage with concrete walls and nets, for now.

Japan is no stranger to rogue birds. Earlier this year, a Humboldt penguin known only as “Penguin 337? made a daring escape from a Tokyo aquarium and managed to elude capture for 82 days. He was eventually captured in Tokyo Bay.

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More London Zoo Penguin Weigh-ins

Vicki Fyson a trainee keeper at London Zoo prepares to weigh a Rockhopper penguin, in London, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. Zookeepers are grabbing their scales and reaching for the tape measures, as they prepare to monitor every animal at ZSL London Zoo's annual weigh-in.
Photo: Alastair Grant, Associated Press / SF

Vicki Fyson a trainee keeper at London Zoo attempts to weigh a Humboldt penguin, in London, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012. Zookeepers are grabbing their scales and reaching for the tape measures, as they prepare to monitor every animal at ZSL London Zoo's annual weigh-in.
Photo: Alastair Grant, Associated Press / SF

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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Trouble at Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island, south of Adelaide, is one of Australia's most popular tourism destinations, thanks to its profusion of native wildlife, which includes koalas, kangaroos and the world's smallest penguin species.

But lately there have been dark goings-on in the animal kingdom: the New Zealand fur seals have been devouring the fairy penguins.

Penguin numbers have dropped by half on the island, according to some locals, who want the seals to be sterilised, relocated or even culled. Now they have come up with a new suggestion: shoot them with beanbag rounds – a method more commonly used to control riots – if they approach penguin colonies.

John Ayliffe, who runs nightly penguin-spotting tours, said five penguins had been taken by seals near the town of Kingscote in recent weeks. He warned that the seal population was booming and that, unless drastic measures were taken, the penguins on the rocky island could be wiped out. The lead shot "hits the seals like a punch and it will not penetrate the skin provided it's fired from sensible distances", he said, after which the seals would simply move away.

Conservationists, however, are horrified, and the state environment department says that "interactions between New Zealand fur seals and penguins are a natural phenomenon over which humans have little control". It adds that the seals – a protected species native to Australia as well as New Zealand – are only now recovering from commercial sealing in the past.

Sealing, which was Australia's first major industry after colonisation, nearly eradicated the fur seal. Although it was banned in the 1830s, fishermen were still allowed to kill seals deemed to be "interfering with fishing operations" until 1983.

In recent decades, the Kangaroo Island population has bounced back to about 25,000 – and the number of penguins has declined in tandem, claim tourism operators. One of these, Simone Somerfield, told The Australian last year that visitors to her penguin viewing centre had seen the birds ambushed by seals in the shallows and even chased on to the shore.

"Every now and again you would see one penguin being taken, and I would say, 'Gee, that's amazing, it's like David Attenborough'," she said. "But then it was more and more and more, and then mass kills in which the seals were not even eating them. It was happening within a hundred metres and you have a complete view – it was like watching a horror movie."

Seal populations are believed to have grown partly because of a decline in numbers of sharks and killer whales, their natural predators. Mr Ayliffe, manager of the Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre, said that in South Africa and Namibia seals were "harvested" because there was not enough food for them. "Harvesting is a major tool used internationally to manage numbers. It's only a matter of time before we implement some control measures here."

However, measures such as culling and relocation have been rejected by environmental authorities, who say they have proved expensive and largely ineffective elsewhere. New seals move into areas from which others have been removed, and relocated seals swim long distances to return to familiar feeding grounds. Moreover, penguins form only a small part of the fur seal's diet, according to marine biologists.

Tim Kelly, of the Conservation Council of South Australia, said while he could understand the frustration of tour operators, the growth in seal numbers was a welcome development. He added there were other threats to the penguins, such as attacks by dogs and nest predation, which also had to be taken into account.

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Image of the Day

King penguin chick (brown boy) by DJG.Sydney

King penguin chick (brown boy), a photo by DJG.Sydney on Flickr.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

This Week's Pencognito!

Please visit Jen and all the Pengies by clicking here!

Feeding Time!!!

Image of the Day

emperor penguins, a photo by sandwichgirl on Flickr.

Friday, August 24, 2012

African Penguin population declining: Management plan published for comments

Four African Penguins on a rock at Boulders Beach, SA

Credits:

Christoph Michels/Wikimedia commons

Four African Penguins on a rock at Boulders Beach, SA

Biodiversity Management Plan was published in the Government Gazette by the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs on Aug. 20, 2012 for public comments, reports the Environmental Affairs department of the Republic of South Africa. The public may submit comments in writing within 30 days of the publication notice in Gazette No. 35607.

The African Penguin is native to Southern Africa and is the only penguin that breeds in Africa. Its population has decreased dramatically since the 1920s and is now considered an endangered species.
In the 1920s there were around 1 million pairs of African Penguins. By 2009 there were only 25,000 pairs recorded. The current population is only 2.5 percent of its level 80 years ago and is still declining.

It is believed that the decline from the 1920s to the 1950s was probably from the penguins’ eggs being harvested for human consumption. Another contributor to the decline was that large amounts of guano were removed from the seabird islands. The African Penguin normally burrows into the guano so that their nests would be safe and protected. With the guano removed they were forced to nest on the unsafe surface.

Other factors that have contributed to the population decline are large oil spoils and predation by Cape fur seals. African Penguins prey on shoaling pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovies, the same fish that purse-seine fisheries compete for.

The African Penguin may become extinct if “drastic conservation steps are not immediately implemented.”

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Nests built for crested penguins

By Tracey Roxburgh on Fri, 24 Aug 2012

Real Journeys' Milford Mariner skipper Chris Hishon (front) and nature guide Richard Heyward with one of their purpose-built nest boxes (and above right) for the Fiordland crested penguins at Harrison Cove in Milford Sound.

Two Real Journeys staff members have used their DIY skills to benefit rare Fiordland crested penguins in Milford Sound, creating "luxury beachfront accommodation", complete with verandas, for the birds.

Milford Mariner skipper Chris Hishon and nature guide Richard Heyward, supported by the Leslie Hutchins Conservation Foundation, constructed the purpose-built nest boxes for the penguins at Harrison Cove in a bid to provide them with a safe breeding haven for their susceptible chicks.

The two men have been interested in protecting the species for about five years, beginning when Mr Heyward initiated a stoat-trapping programme in prime Fiordland crested penguin sites around Milford Sound.

Photos supplied.

"The programme was undertaken to protect the breeding pairs and their very vulnerable chicks.

"Due to the success of the trapping, penguin chick survival rates have increased and there has been a marked growth in the number of penguins returning each year to Milford Sound to breed," he said.

Additionally, the men had spearheaded a possum-trapping operation during the past two years at Harrison Cove.

"Possum numbers had got so high, foliage was being stripped from some plant species, preventing rejuvenation and leaving penguin nesting sites significantly more exposed to the elements," Mr Hishon said.

"In the last two years, Real Journeys' crew have trapped about 100 possums in the Harrison Cove area where the Milford Mariner moors overnight.

"While this means improved protection for the surrounding vegetation, it is also indicative of the large possum population in the Milford Sound area."

During their trapping forays ashore, the men became aware there was a shortage of good, natural nesting habitat to support the growing Fiordland crested penguin population.

"To some extent, the birds were being forced to nest in exposed places and we felt that if the nesting success rate was to continue, the penguins needed more sheltered habitat in Harrison Cove," Mr Heyward said.

The Department of Conservation approved the construction of nesting boxes, and the foundation provided funding for building materials.

"We got cracking in my garage and built six spacious tanalised plywood nesting boxes complete with individual verandas," Mr Hishon said.

The boxes were transported by Real Journeys' coach to Milford Sound and taken to Harrison Cove by boat.

"Richard and I had a great time installing the new beachfront units around the outskirts of the coastal breeding area.

"We made them look as natural as possible, from a penguin's perspective, camouflaging them with vegetation and rocks." The men, along with the rest of Real Journeys' Milford Sound staff, are now waiting to discover whether the penguins approve of their new accommodation.

"The birds will start to return to Milford Sound in the next few weeks for the breeding season and understandably we are anxious to see if the additional breeding habitat in Harrison Cove meets with the satisfaction of the penguins.

"If it does, then ultimately it will lead to a boost in numbers of this important and very rare species."

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Image of the Day

Waikawa, Curio bay Yellow-eyed Penguin

New Zealand,South Island
Southern Scenic Route from Te Anau to Curio Bay

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Image of the Day

Penguin, a photo by taka.sato on Flickr.

Humans site reason for penguin decline

A baby chick king penguin is bathed before for its daily weighing at the Penguin & Puffin Coast at the Saint Louis Zoo in St. Louis on January 18, 2012. UPI/Bill Grenblatt

License photo

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- A massive population decline in penguins in Africa is mainly due to human behavior, the South African Ministry of Water and Environmental Affairs says.
The population of the African Penguin -- endemic to Southern Africa, and the only penguin that breeds in Africa -- has declined to about 2.5 percent of its level 80 years ago, the report said. The decline has led to the species being listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of endangered species.

Between the 1920s and the mid 1950s, as many as 48 percent of all eggs produced were harvested for human consumption, the ministry said in a report.
Changes in penguin habitat at seabird islands due to guano collection have contributed to the decline, and large oil spills have also affected penguin numbers, the report said.

"There is considerable concern about the poor conservation status of penguins and that they may become extinct in the future if drastic conservation steps are not immediately implemented," the report concluded.

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London Zoo Weigh-in

P-p-p pick up a penguin to see if it's p-p-p put on weight

I would love to weigh a penguin. I wouldn't mind assessing a stoat, either, or taking the inside leg measurements of a baby giraffe. A tarantula spider, however – well, not so much. At London Zoo this week, however, it isn't just the warm-eyed, cuddly creatures that will be given a once-over as part of the annual "weigh-in."

Some 16,000 creatures from 750 species will be coaxed from their slumbers and cajoled onto the scales and against measuring posts, like some giant animal version of a WeightWatchers meeting. The difference: it doesn't matter if the parakeets or meerkats have put on an ounce or two. In fact, it might possibly be a good thing, according to Adrian Walls, the head of the bird section at the Zoo.
"We weigh because it is a very good indication of an animal's long-term health and because each animal has a unique number with ZIMS (the international Zoological Information Management System)," he says. "We do this each year so we can spot trends or problems in an animal's long-term well-being. It's like updating a health passport."

Not only does this allow them to track the health of animals in the zoo in London but also the long term-health of that species. All very worthy and serious work – but I confess I would still just want to weigh a penguin for the Lolz. In fact, says Walls, the penguins are the least Lol-worthy when it comes to weighing.
"You try to coax them onto the scales and they just want to jump in the pool – you have to follow them in sometimes."
What I really want, he says, are the hornbills: "You give them one command and they weigh themselves." Takes the labour out of things, I'm sure, but where's the fun in that?

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

^{Vicky Fyson trainee keeper of Birds weighing the Penguins(Paul Grover)}

P-p-pecked by a penguin

By Clemmie Moodie
23 Aug 2012

BBC TV presenter gets bitten by peckish bird

TV weathergirl Carol Kirkwood was reporting live from London Zoo when the bird bit the hand that was feeding him

TV weathergirl Carol Kirkwood fails to predict a nip in the air... and gets bitten by a peckish penguin called Dave.
The BBC Breakfast star was reporting live from London Zoo yesterday when the 16-week-old Humboldt clamped its beak to her hand as she fed him.
Scot Carol squealed in pain before continuing her chat with keeper Adrian Walls.
The 16-week-old eventually released Carol, 50, from his the grips of his beak - but not without first drawing blood.
“They’ve got strong beaks haven’t they, the wee rascals,” she said.
Shaking the injured finger, she quickly wrapped-up the link.

But when giggling hosts Bill Turnbull and Susanna Reid returned to the injured presenter for the weather minutes later, they couldn’t resist asking Carol for the identity of the rogue penguin.

Pickles and me! He is soooooo cute x twitter.com/carolkirkwood/…
— Carol Kirkwood (@carolkirkwood) August 22, 2012

She was then asked to show off her injury and revealed a reddened, swollen finger.
Last night a zoo worker said: “It is very unfortunate.
“Penguins are lively creatures, but usually very friendly - especially the baby ones.
“Perhaps because Carol isn’t a trained, this particular youngster spotted weakness and went in for the kill as she tried to throw him some fish.
"Their beaks really do smart if they catch you unawares.”

The incident occurred during a report about London Zoo’s annual audit which sees them weighing and measuring each of the 750 species they home.
Carol was bitten whilst interviewing head bird keeper, Adrian Walls, who, in turn, was holding 15 week-old baby, Pebbles, beside the zoo’s nursery pool.
And fans last night urged Carol to beak careful in future.

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Image of the Day

Little blue penguin, a photo by jennifer2313 on Flickr.

Little penguins count confirms bleak outlook

By James Hancock

Updated Wed Aug 22, 2012

Photo: Granite Island penguin count confirms just 26 remain (ABC News)

Map: Victor Harbor 5211

A further count of little penguins on Granite Island at Victor Harbor has confirmed a colony of just 26.

Over 12 years, annual counts by the Friends of Encounter Seabirds have confirmed a fall from about 1,800.
Attacks by dogs, cats and fur seals are considered possible causes for the sharp decline.
Natalie Bool from the friends' group says the South Australian Environment Department must step up efforts to tackle the problem.

"We need to have a co-ordinated effort to actually put research into little penguins in the state and also their problems, so we'd like to see monitoring being carried out at other islands," she said.
"It needs to be managed from a whole perspective across the state and there's only so much that our group can do, we're a community-based group."

Tony Flaherty, from the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, says a plan is being implemented.
"I can't say whether penguins will disappear from Granite Island, that's of concern to me and to the department," he said.

"We cannot really manage the predation that is occurring at sea but what we can manage are the things that are happening on land, and that's where to date at a local level we've been concentrating our efforts.
"We've put together an action plan with the penguin ecologists and we're implementing that with the community groups and the Friends of Encounter Seabirds."

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Plan to save penguins published

A plan to save South Africa's rapidly dwindling African penguin population has been released for public comment by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa.

21 August 2012 | Sapa

CAPE TOWN - The draft biodiversity management plan, which aims to arrest the decline in the numbers of the distinctive black and white flightless aquatic bird, was published in the Government Gazette on Monday.

In a statement on Tuesday, environmental affairs said 80 years ago, the African penguin -- known to ornithologists as Spheniscus demersus --had been the country's most abundant seabird.

"The African penguin is endemic as a breeding species to southern Africa and it is the only penguin that breeds in Africa. [It] was South Africa's most abundant seabird, but has suffered a massive population decline," the department said.

"The overall population may have been in the order of one million pairs in the 1920s, but it decreased to about 147,000 pairs in 1956/57."

This had dropped further to 75,000 pairs in 1978; to 63,000 pairs in 2001; and, to 25,000 pairs in 2009.

"Therefore, the present population is only some 2.5 percent of its level 80 years ago, and the decrease is continuing."

The decrease between the 1920s and the mid 1950s was mainly attributable to over-exploitation of African penguin eggs, nearly half of which were harvested each year for human consumption.

This practice was stopped in 1967.

Another contributing factor was substantial modification of the habitat at seabird islands due to guano collection in the past. In more recent times, large oil spills had also had a substantial impact.

"There is considerable concern about the poor conservation status of penguins and that they may become extinct in the future if drastic conservation steps are not immediately implemented," the department said.

Members of the public were invited to comment, within the next 30 working days, on the recently published plan.

"This is the first national management plan for the species and will lay the foundation for implementation action and future plans that will follow," the department said.

"[It] concentrates substantially on establishing guidelines around various aspects of African Penguin conservation and consolidating existing conservation work."

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Image source

Donation to ease penguins plight

22/08/2012

The Pilots Beach blue penguin population will have "a fighting chance" to thrive, thanks to a $20,000 donation.

The donation to the Pukekura Trust will allow for the development of a night-time viewing platform at Pilots Beach, to give people a better view of penguins returning to their nesting site.

Pukekura Trust chairman Robert Coote says the trust is appreciative of the funds received for the Blue Penguin Project from the Otago Community Trust.

"Their support ensures this reserve can be managed during the breeding season in a way which provides for the protection of the penguins while allowing visitors the opportunity to observe these charming birds in their natural environment."

Mr Coote says that in the past, the public essentially had a free licence to frolic with the penguins.
"Volunteers were overseeing the interaction, but the public was free to interact as they wished. This will give the penguins a fighting chance."

He says the penguin population at the site has "boomed" over the past 10 to 15 years and that there are now between 200 and 250 breeding pairs.

It is hoped the platform will offer tourism benefits, as well as a level of protection for the penguins.
The area has the potential to be one of the area's key tourist destinations.

Community trust chief executive Keith Ellwood says the project will benefit the area greatly.
"The Pukekura Trust has the welfare of the penguins clearly in mind," he says. "We see this as a ‘win-win' in terms of economic development for the area as well as protecting our unique fauna and areas of biodiversity."

The community trust gave more than $110,000 to 25 Otago and North Otago groups last month.
In North Otago, $500 went to the Maheno Bowling Club, $2000 to the North Otago Justices of the Peace Association, $5000 to the North Otago Pony Club, $6000 to the North Otago Cricket Association and $3000 to Palmerston Primary School.

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image source

Rogue Penguins Break Out of Zoo Yet Again

Aug 21, 2012

ABC News

Some pesky penguins in the Japanese city of Suzaka are acting like characters in a “Madagascar” movie and are giving zookeepers quite the headache with their repeated attempts to break free.
A pair of 3-month old chicks from Suzaka Zoo first escaped earlier this month by jumping off a slide. Zookeepers responded by attaching boards to the foot of the slide, but two days later another chick got out, by crawling under the fence, according to Japanese media reports. Keepers responded a second time, by sealing off the bottom of the fence.

Early this morning, that same bird made yet another successful escape by hopping over the fence. Zookeepers spotted it swimming in a nearby pond a few hours later.

Zoo officials say they plan to keep the four young penguins in an indoor cage with concrete walls and nets, for now.

Japan is no stranger to rogue birds. Earlier this year, a Humboldt penguin known only as “Penguin 337″ made a daring escape from a Tokyo aquarium and managed to elude capture for 82 days. He was eventually captured in Tokyo Bay.

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