By NBC Bay Area Staff
| Saturday, Jul 27, 2013
Josh Keppel
From this photo it looks like the adults are having a better time than the kids.
The five newest penguins at the San
Francisco Zoo did their graduation march Saturday morning as they said
good-bye to fish school and hello to Penguin Island.
The zoo's annual "march of the penguins" was open to the public for the first time.
The zoo's annual "march of the penguins" was open to the public for the first time.
Onlookers lined the penguins' route, cheering on the chicks as they waddled their way to their new home.
The San Francisco Zoo says it has the
largest and most successful breeding colony of Magellanic penguins of
any zoo in the country.
All five made it to the promise land and are now settling in to their new digs.
The penguins are on display every day of the week.
The San Francisco Zoo is open daily from 10 to 5 p.m.
Here's how the zoo describes Penguin Island:
Among the more fascinating animals at
the Zoo is the colony of Magellanic penguins located on Penguin Island
across from the Lion House. These seemingly identical flightless black
and white seabirds are actually very diverse in personality,
disposition and markings, as the penguin keepers can attest to.
Extremely social birds, Magellanic
penguins can be seen "flying" through the water at speeds up to 15
miles per hour, basking in the sun, preening or hanging out in one of
36 burrows on the Island.
While most people's image of
penguins is of tuxedoed birds padding about on the ice floes of
Antarctica, actually only two of the world's 17 species of penguins are
native to the polar continent. Since Magellanic penguins inhabit the
Strait of Magellan and the coastal regions of Argentina, Chile and the
Falkland Islands, they are right at home in San Francisco's temperate,
marine climate.
Penguin Island has one of the most
successful captive breeding colonies in the world, with 205 penguin
chicks fledged since the old reflecting pool was renovated to
accommodate penguins in 1984. The San Francisco Zoo participates in the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan for the
Magellanic penguin.
The 200-foot-long pool was actually
built during the 1930's WPA construction era, and over the years has
served as a reflecting pool, and later an exhibit space for squirrel
monkeys, seals and even Humboldt penguins before its renovation in
1984. At that time, the central island was landscaped with 35 tons of
black volcanic rock similar to that found in the penguin’s natural
habitat and fitted with custom-made fiberglass burrows for the birds to
use as nest sites.
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