Akron zookeeper marches with penguins

By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published: October 28, 2012

Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru recently. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal) 

 

(More Images at bottom of post)

Pedro, the most recent Humboldt penguin born at the Akron Zoo since the exhibit opened in 2003, and his counterparts are among the first animals visitors encounter as they enter the park.
The inquisitive, friendly penguin resides in the most popular exhibit at the zoo and appears to be as curious about visitors as they are about him.

If there were such a thing as a lap penguin, 3-month-old Pedro would be it, said senior wild animal keeper Vicky Croisant, of Akron.
Generally, the birds get excited when she enters the exhibit with a bowlful of capelin, a member of the smelt family of fish. She has tiny scars up and down her arms to prove it.

“When you feed them, its like feeding a kindergarten class,” as the birds vie for her attention, said Croisant, who has been keeper of the endangered South American birds for eight years.
Each penguin has a name and a distinct personality.

In September, Croisant spent two weeks studying the birds in their nesting habitat along the rugged coast of the Pacific Ocean on the 130-acre protected Punta San Juan Reserve in Southern Peru. She and other volunteers monitored local guano miners, called guaneros, as they harvested bird droppings that the native Humboldts use for nesting sites.

It is a symbiotic relationship, Croisant said, as the penguins build their nests by burrowing holes in guano dropped from thousands of cormorants, called guanay, Peruvian pelicans and Peruvian boobies that live near the nutrient-rich ocean shores. The reserve is home to 200,000 to 250,000 cormorants, she said.
As many as 4,000 Humboldt penguins, 5,000 fur seals and 8,000 sea lions live in the walled-off reserve.

Highland farmers have hand harvested the birds’ guano for commercial fertilizer for more than 200 years, said David Barnhardt, director of marketing and guest services at the zoo.
“They would grab the guano from the site with no regard for the penguins, stepping on eggs and destroying the nests,” said Barnhardt.

Today, the product is sustainable inside the reserve by only allowing the guaneros to harvest it every four or five years in order to protect the penguins that nest twice a year.
The Akron Zoo is part of the Humboldt penguin Species Survival Plan through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Pedro and the other 18 penguins that currently call the zoo home are why Croisant was afforded the opportunity to participate in a research study of the birds.

Croisant, a zoologist trained at Michigan State University, traveled 4,000 miles by air and bus to spend two weeks living in primitive conditions at the reserve. There was no electricity except when it was produced by a generator from 6 to 9 p.m. each day. With no running water, showers were limited to every other day. Toilets are flushed one bucket of water at a time.
“It was not a vacation by any means,” but still an experience of a lifetime, she said.

The trip was made possible by a $2,500 donation by Pepper Pike residents Kathy and Tom Leiden, owner of Leiden Cabinet Co. in Twinsburg, which manufactures wood fixtures.
The Leidens, who recently returned from an Earthwatch Expedition at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where they participated in a variety of research activities to monitor the health of the environment of the African penguin, said the birds have long fascinated them.

The couple financially supports a half-dozen projects to benefit the African penguin in Cape Town, said Tom Leiden.
“The penguin is a species that lives in the ocean and on the land. They are a sentinel species,” he said.
“If they are doing poorly, it sends a message of ‘hey, what’s going on with the ocean?’ ”
The couple also supports people they believe will be ambassadors for conservation efforts, such as Croisant.

“My wife and I have always believed in conservation efforts in the wild and education at the adult level,” he said.
To make Croisant’s trip possible, the zoo also provided $6,000 collected from the Wishing Well change in the Komodo Kingdom, and a portion of one percent of admission receipts set aside in a Conservation Fund, said Barnhardt.

During her stay in Peru, Croisant did twice-daily census counts of the Humboldts, sea lions and fur seals that share the beach at the reserve. Daily, she and fellow volunteers noted feeding behaviors and kept track of obvious culprits that may cause the animals to abandon the site.
Her job, and the job of all the employees at the zoo, is to help visitors to understand conservation efforts to help animals survive in the wild.

“It’s why we do tours and penguin feeding, to make that connection,” Barnhardt said.
“If you make that connection with just one person and they want to change the world, then we have done our job,” said Croisant.

The public is invited to feed the zoo’s Humboldt penguins from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Dec. 1 through Feb. 29 when temperatures are 55 degrees or below. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the penguin exhibit.

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Akron zoo visitor watch as Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper, feeds the Humboldt penguins in the enclosure at the Akron Zoo.Croisant, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru and talked about her experiences. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal) 

Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru recently. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal

A juvenile (left) and an aduit Humboldt penguin look out of a window of their enclosure at the Akron Zoo. Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper at the zoo, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal) 

 

Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper, plays with a Humboldt penguin as it swims by in its enclosure at the Akron Zoo. Croisant, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru and talked about her experiences. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal)

Vicky Croisant, senior wild animal keeper, sits among the the Humboldt penguin in their enclosure at the Akron Zoo . Croisant, took part in a Humboldt penguin species survival plan management program in Peru. (Mike Cardew/Akron Beacon Journal)