Tuesday, October 21, 2014

One Special Day for One Old Penguin




Russell Jones
Gulf World threw a birthday party for one of their oldest residents. Fat Boy is   turning 31 years-old.  Staff wanted to honor this achievement because its so rare for African penguins to live this long.

Stephanie Nagle the Education Coordinator at Gulf World was on hand for the celebration.

He is a little bit older so he is calmer than the others. He is the only male in our habitat, so the other females are a little bit more active than he is, but he still very healthy and we hope to celebrate many more birthdays in the future, says Nagle.

Gulf World is home to many different aquatic animals including penguins.  Fat Boy is an African Black-Footed Penguin.
This species is on the endangered list, so staff used today as
an opportunity to educate the public on how to help the animal.

According to Gulf World trainers, picking up liter on the beach to reducing the amount of water you use everyday are ways to help Fat Boy and his family live on forever.

One admirer loves the penguin for all kinds of reasons. 
"I like how they can swim and dive. They are cool animals but just weird little birds, says Bennett Schneider.

source 

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