Adorable seabird Yoyo refuses to leave keeper's side during scuba lessons
Yoyo, the macaroni penguin lives at an aquarium in Torquay, Devon
Scuba divers can enjoy diving with penguins in their enclosure
Has struck up an unlikely friendship with diving instructor Derek Youd
By
Mail on Sunday Reporter
Published: 29 November 2014
Scuba expert Derek Youd has the ultimate dive buddy perched on his shoulder.
He
is Yoyo, the macaroni penguin, and whenever there’s a diver about, he
is more than happy to coach them in advanced underwater skills. Yoyo
is one of 70 penguins at the Living Coasts Zoo and Aquarium in Torquay,
Devon, where qualified scuba divers can enjoy a ‘diving with penguins’
experience.
Scroll down for video
Hitching a ride: Young penguin Yoyo with diver Derek Youd at the Living Coasts Zoo and Aquarium in Torquay, Devon
But for dive supervisor Derek, it’s 18-month-old Yoyo who always makes the experience memorable. ‘Yoyo was hand-reared by keepers, so he is especially confident around people,’ Derek explains. ‘He fusses around the divers when they are getting ready and likes to inspect their gear.
Deep friendship: Whether in or out of the water, Yoyo never wanders far from Mr Youd's side
‘Once we are in the water, he is such a good swimmer and he’ll circle around us, tugging on anything loose like hair or a zip. Like all youngsters, playing is uppermost in his mind. He seems to think all diving in the pool is for his personal benefit. He has plenty of his own penguin friends. It’s just that we have to remind him sometimes that he is a penguin too!’
Published: Wednesday November 26, 2014 Source: ONE News
Staff from The Ministry for Primary Industries,
Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust and Department of Conservation take samples
from a Yellow-eyed penguin on Otago Peninsula. - Source: supplied
A deadly disease is threatening to decimate the Yellow-Eyed Penguin
population on New Zealand's southern coastlines, with those affected
boasting only a 10% survival rate.
Avian Diptheria is having a devastating impact on the endangered
birds from Oamaru all the way south to Codfish Island off the coast of
Invercargill.
The disease causes ulcers and lesions inside chicks' mouths making it
difficult for them to eat and breathe. 90% of chicks affected will die
from the disease.
At this stage a cause and a cure is unknown, prompting an
inter-agency approach from the Department of Conservation, Ministry for
Primary Industries, Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust, as well as help from
Otago and Massey universities.
"They're very young, they're very delicate and they need to be able
to feed really well to put on the massive weight gains so that they're
actually ready to fledge come the summer," DOC Vet Kate McInnes told ONE
News of the dangers for the vulnerable chicks.
"If we can find one particular bug that's the nasty bug then maybe we can target that with a silver bullet."
The Ministry for Primary Industries have taken the unusual step of
putting personnel on the ground to help the diagnostic process with MPI
Veterinary Pathologist and Incursion Investigator Kelly Buckle warning
of the potential flow on effects the disease could have.
"It's within reason to assume that any disease that is affecting
penguins could potentially affect poultry," Ms Buckle told ONE News.
"This disease is so devastating to Yellow-Eyed Penguins that you'd
hate to think what would happen if it got into chickens for instance."
Making matters worse, Yellow-Eyed Penguins' breeding sites are at
half the number of a good year, a continuation of a concerning
three-year trend of low statistics for the iconic birds.
As
global citizens concerned about the effects of over-fishing and other
harm to our ocean, we call on you to create the world's largest marine
protected area around Pitcairn, Ascencion, and the South Sandwich
Islands. We need your help to save our seas.
Millions of penguins, hundreds of thousands of turtles, and dozens of species found nowhere else.
Now UK Prime Minister Cameronhas a chance to protect them all, and
one-up President Obama by creating the world's largest marine
reserve.It’s a friendly competition that could save our seas!
The waters around Pitcairn, Ascension, and the South Sandwich Islands are among the last near-pristine ocean areas on the planet,
and everything is in place to protect them, including advanced
techniques to make sure the rules are respected. Theseproposals are
ready-to-go and even have local backing -- the Pitcairn islanders
unanimously support protection!Insiders say that a lack of political pressure is the only real obstacle to this plan.
Click now to sign and then send a message telling the UK it’s time they protect penguin paradise!
When 2 million sign, we’ll deliver our ocean of voices to a closed-door
meeting with government ministers, and right to Cameron himself!
Bristol zoo asks John Lewis to help its penguin appeal – the answer is no
Zoo relies on public donations after retailer, whose Christmas ad is
about boy seeking friend for his lonely penguin, disappoints
Penguin chicks abandoned by their parents are being cared for at a
rehabilitation centre in South Africa, a project led by the zoo.
Photograph: Bristol Zoological Society
Peter Walker and
Adam Vaughan
When Bristol Zoo urgently needed help to raise money for orphaned
penguins this Christmas a large retailer that based its festive
promotion around a lonely, flightless bird with a fondness for fish,
seemed the obvious choice. But then came the twist: the company, John Lewis, said no.
The species, commonly known as the jackass penguin, is endangered.
The bird’s population fell 70% between 2001 and 2013 and fewer than
18,000 breeding pairs are left in the wild off the South African and
Namibian coast. A lack of action could end in extinction, the zoo says.
Every year many chicks are abandoned by parents foraging for food. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation
of Coastal Birds, outside Cape Town, usually takes in about 450 over a
three-month period. But this year the centre has seen 460 arrive in
November alone.
As part of the appeal, which has so far raised £1,330, the zoo contacted John Lewis, whose 2014 Christmas advert about a young boy seeking a friend for his solitary penguin, Monty, has been watched nearly 18m times on YouTube.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said: “We did approach them at the end of
last week about the possibility of some help, in the light of their Christmas
advertisement. We asked if there was anything they could do, whether in
terms of money, or just some support to help raise the profile of the
campaign. They were perfectly polite, and wished us the best of luck,
but said that they were unable to help.”
While the zoo might have been surprised it is not disheartened and
The zoo hopes that an imminent gala dinner will boost the appeal. “We’re
just going hell for leather, trying to raise as much as we can,” the
spokeswoman said.
She said: “All profits from the CD sales of our Christmas advert
single, Real Love, by Tom Odell, go to WWF’s Adopt a Penguin programme.
Since the campaign launched on 6 November more than 1,500 adoptions have
been [requested], a significant increase from this time last year.
“As I’m sure Bristol
zoo explained, we passed on our apologies that we are unable to help on
this occasion and wish them the best of luck with their campaign.”
Francois Louw, a coordinator at the South Africa rehab centre, said
the chicks from colonies at Stony Point and Boulder’s Beach had also
been arriving in worse condition than usual. “There are slightly weaker
and therefore we have to protect them for a longer time. A large amount
weren’t in a great state,” he said.
It is not clear why the chicks are being abandoned in greater
numbers, but the centre believes that most likely the parents were not
finding fish earlier in the year so delayed the breeding season.
The centre has also been hit by the high price of fish at this time
of year. A-grade pilchards, of which the conservationists feed 25 tonnes
to the chicks each season, have risen in price from about 13-14 rand
(75-80p) a kilo to 17.25 rand. “Coupled with the added cost for treating
the slightly worse chicks, we are in quite a squeeze,” Louw said.
A
veterinarian examined an endangered African blackfooted penguin chick
at the Monterey Bay Aquarium shortly after its hatching in August 2013.
(Contributed -- Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder)
MONTEREY - Over the weekend, three endangered African blackfooted penguins died at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Zuri and Betty, both female penguins, died on Friday unexpectedly,
with post-mortem evaluations showing signs of dehydration. Tranya, a
male penguin, died Saturday evening after being treated with fluids for
dehydration and lack of eating, Dr. Mike Murray, the aquarium's director
of veterinary services, said.
After the female penguins died Friday, aquarium aviculturists
conducted behavioral evaluations on all 17 birds left in the aquarium's
penguin exhibit, including Tranya, looking for any abnormalities. Tranya
and three other birds were removed from the exhibit and monitored.
An
African blackfooted penguin, similar to those that died over the
weekend at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The exhibit was briefly closed
while aquarium officials placed the surviving birds under observation.
The cause of death is still under investigation. (Courtesy photo -
Monterey Bay Aquarium)
The other three were returned to the exhibit Sunday morning. Tranya died Sunday just after 8 p.m.
Preliminary exams did not show an obvious cause of death, only
suggestions of dehydration. Officials are waiting for lab results, which
could take a few weeks, to pinpoint what went wrong.
Following the deaths, there are 16 African blackfooted penguins
left in the aquarium's exhibit, aquarium spokeswoman Angela Hains said.
All bird continue to be monitored.
Zuri, had just turned 12 last week, is survived by Pringle, her mate, and her 3-year-old chick, Tola.
Betty, 6, passed away leaving her partner, Seekoei, and her
sibling, Sabie, behind. Tranya was a 16-year-old penguin who came from
New Orleans and is survived by his partner, Molopo."One might say
penguins and drama go together. I suspect there will be a bit of a
kerfuffle as birds look to readjust mates and nest sites," Dr. Murray
said.
The exhibit was briefly closed on Friday and was reopened Sunday morning, Hains said.
STARVING penguin chicks are facing a Christmas crisis, British experts warned yesterday.
By: John Ingham
Francois Louw
So far this month 430 African penguin chicks have been brought to the Sanccob rehabilitation centresAnd they urged Britons charmed by the festive John Lewis penguin advert to donate cash to help save the threatened birds.
Rescue centres in South Africa have been swamped by chicks abandoned by parents due to a lack of food. So
far this month 430 African penguin chicks have been brought to the
Sanccob rehabilitation centres which are supported by Bristol Zoological
Society.
Last year over the entire November and December chick season the rescue centres dealt with 440 abandoned birds. The rescue centres include one on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held in prison off Cape Town.
As African penguin populations are currently facing a crisis
due to a diminished food supply near their nesting colonies, there is a
substantial risk that this species could eventually become extinct
without action
~~Dr Christoph Schwitzer, Director of Conservation at Bristol Zoological Society
African penguins have declined by
98 per cent in the past century and there are fewer than 18,000
breeding pairs left in the wild. There are fears that without concerted action the species could soon become extinct.
Every
year large numbers of penguin chicks are abandoned by their parents
when their month-long moult begins and they are unable to swim out to
sea to gather fish for them. The chicks that have not already fledged are abandoned and would starve to death without conservationists' help.
This year the crisis has intensified due to steep declines in fish stocks which meant parents struggled to feed their young. Dr
Christoph Schwitzer, Director of Conservation at Bristol Zoological
Society said: “Unless conservation organisations intervene, these chicks
will starve to death. "As African penguin populations are
currently facing a crisis due to a diminished food supply near their
nesting colonies, there is a substantial risk that this species could
eventually become extinct without action.”
But this year the crisis has got worse because the price of fish has soared. This means that an extra £20,000 is needed before Christmas to pay for food and care for the chicks.
Glen Milner gets up close and personal with the king penguins of South Georgia
11 Sep 2014
Glen Milner, 31, has been a documentary filmmaker for nearly a decade,
covering a range of stories from drug cartels in Mexico to the lives of
inuits dealing with climate change in the Arctic. He recently returned from
a video assignment in South Georgia, capturing the island’s dramatic
landscape and wildlife.
According to Milner, “The first thing that really hits you about South Georgia
is the cinematic beauty of the place. When our expedition boat, the Polar
Pioneer, anchored in King Haakon bay, we were faced with panoramic views of
glaciers, snow-capped mountain ranges and moss-carpeted hills. It had the
feeling of a feature-film location that would be chosen for having a
uniquely diverse landscape, which seems somewhat at odds with the extreme
weather conditions. It felt like a fictional fantasy world.”
Glen Milner recently returned from South Georgia (Photo: Glen Milner)
Were there any challenges in getting up-close to animals that make South
Georgia their home? “Being confronted by the odd bad tempered seal was the
trickiest challenge for me, really. You can prepare yourself for working in
the freezing temperatures of the Antarctic region but when you get the
camera set-up and a male elephant seal comes into frame hurtling towards
you, it can be a bit unnerving. They can launch out of the sea from nowhere
and move really quickly for such big animals but most of the younger ones
are pretty friendly and inquisitive animals.”
It is home to a huge colony of king penguins (Photo: Glen Milner)
It’s the encounters with bird life that will stay with him though: “Landing on
Salisbury Plain on the north coast was a truly unique experience. It has one
of the largest king penguin colonies in the world and you feel like you’ve
stumbled across the world’s entire population of these birds. Thousands of
them reach as far as the eye can see to a point where they become little
white dots far-off in the distance. When you lie down with your camera and
keep still they happily approach you to poke and prod in order to try figure
out what you are. It’s a strange sensation but also one you don’t forget.”
"It felt like a fictional fantasy world" (Photo: Glen Milner)
His next projects couldn’t provide more of a contrast. “The next few things I
have coming out soon include two shorts for Channel 4, one on a blind lady
that goes to every Leeds United match with her teenage son and the other
capturing one of the oldest married couples in the world - an Indian family
based in Bradford. It’s not all penguins in South Georgia!”
"They happily approach you to poke and prod in order to try figure
out what you are" (Photo: Glen Milner)
For
those who struggled to unsee the horrific images of fur seals forcing
themselves on female king penguins, a graphic artist has come up with
something to replace them.
Los
Angeles-based graphic artist has imagined what the potential result of
these unholy alliances would look like, and unsurprisingly, they're
rather cute. Sarah Lee DeRemer, 25, photo-shopped penguins and seals together to create the hypothetical hybrid offspring.
It's a Senguin! A US graphic artist has imagined what the babies of a seal and a penguin would look like. However,
these cute images have a very sincere undertone, following last week's
revelation that fur seals have been raping king penguins on a small
island off the coast of South Africa.
The
disturbing behavior of a group of fur seals on Marion Island,
sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean, was revealed by a group of South African
scientists last week.
Astonishing footage captured by the group showed an enormous seal attacking a female king penguin and forcing itself on her.
'You are no child
of mine': As cute as it might look, the king penguin does not look
happy to have had a half seal-half penguin baby
'My daddy did what?' A baby seal has been given a penguin's beak and eyes in this hybrid creation
'I've got
my father's nose': Artist Sarah Lee
A baby peal: A baby penguin has been given the face of a seal pup in this photoshopped hybrid
The
scientists said they have made four separate observations of individual
Antarctic fur seals sexually assaulting adult king penguins as they
tried to resist.
'Given
the awful news stories of penguins being raped by fur seals, I felt it
my hybridizing obligation to explore the hypothetical offspring of these
assaults,' Ms DeRemer explains.
Attack:
On four recent occasions, researchers spotted Antarctic fur seals
sexually harassing king penguins on Marion Island off the coast of South
Africa
The baby Gentoo hatched after 34 days of incubation
Jack Simpson
Monday 24 November 2014
Incredible footage has emerged of the moment a baby gentoo penguin
broke free of its shell in an animal park in north-west China.
A monitoring camera set-up in the penguin enclosure at the Hangzhou
Polar Ocean Park, Zhejiang Province, captured the tiny long-tailed
gentoo penguin as it breaks through the shell and sees the world for the
first time.
In the video taken on the 20 November, we see the baby break the
shell in half, before struggling to find its feet and escape its case.
The video then cuts to the penguin’s mother as she uses her beak to
reposition the new arrival and bring it into the warmth of her
underbelly.
It is very rare for the birth process to be captured at such close
quarters and has given staff at the Polar Ocean Park an incredible
insight into the birthing process of the species.
In the wild, female gentoo penguins usually lay two eggs with four
days of one another; they will then be incubated for a period of around
34 days before hatching.
The chicks will continue to be fed and cared for by their mother for around 14 weeks.
The video emerged yesterday on Chinese News Channel CCTV, and has subsequently been uploaded onto their Youtube channel.
This is the latest gentoo to be born in captivity in recent times.
In August, Tennessee Aquarium in the US welcomed two new Gentoos to their penguin enclosure.
The penguins of Newport are heading to the red carpet to welcome the "Penguins of Madagascar" to northern Kentucky next week.
The
Newport Aquarium's African penguins will walk the red carpet at the
2:15 p.m. EST Nov. 26 showing of the film at AMC Theatres at Newport on
the Levee. Moviegoers will get an exclusive penguin encounter to
celebrate the film's opening.
The aquarium announced Wednesday it
has entered a partnership with the theatre to sell combo tickets
including admission to the aquarium and the film.
The aquarium's
Kroger Penguin Palooza has five species of penguin: king, chinstrap,
Gentoo, macaroni and rockhopper. The African penguins are on exhibit in
the aquarium's Penguin House. The birds can be visited with the addition
of a Penguin Encounter to the admission ticket.
Updated: Wednesday, November 19 2014
KRASNOYARSK, Russia (NBC News) --
Zookeepers in a Siberian city are
taking care of a baby penguin that is the first of its kind born in
Russia.
The baby bird, or nestling, is a banded penguin, one of a South African
breed protected by the government as an endangered species. A researcher
at the zoo in Krasnoyarsk, who also takes care of the nestling, says
it's the first baby of this kind of bird in Russia.
As of now, the zoo has eight banded penguins. At the moment, the
newly-hatched penguin is being kept and fed in an incubator.
Specialists say the nestling will not appear in public until it grows
bigger.
CHEEP AND CHEERFUL: National Aquarium penguin keeper and diver Miriam Strachan with the rescued 10-week-old little penguin.
It was a shaky start to life for the newest little penguin at the National Aquarium in Napier. The chick and its father were rescued by roading contractors when
they accidentally dug up their burrow near the Napier Port. At just a few days old, the chick - whose eyes were yet to open -
could fit in penguin keeper Miriam Strachan's palm when the Department
of Conservation brought the penguins to the aquarium.
The adult was returned to the wild but the baby would not have survived without its burrow, Strachan said. She has since become its adoptive mother, hand-rearing the chick for
the past 10 weeks. It chirps up to the sound of her voice as she
approaches its cage.
The sex of the chick is yet to be determined, as its feathers
haven't grown long enough to be taken for testing. It will gradually
lose its fluffy grey appearance as its waterproof feathers grow.
Little penguins, also known as little blue penguins, live along much of New Zealand's coast. They spend their day at sea, coming ashore at night to sleep in burrows, caves and often under buildings.
Strachan covers its face with her hand and slides a fish through her
fingers and into its mouth, trying to replicate how a mother feeds its
young. After swallowing the fish, the chick shakes its feathers in
satisfaction.
It is weighed every day to make sure it's steadily gaining weight. The scales now read a healthy 800 grams. "It looks at us as a food source, like parents out in the wild, so it'll definitely be staying with us," Strachan said.
The chick will be kept in quarantine until tests prove it is healthy
enough for staff to slowly introduce it to the 13 other little penguins
in the cove. Some of the birds are territorial and could pick on the chick, so its introduction needs to be carefully managed.
Two African penguin chicks have recently hatched at the California
Academy of Sciences in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, officials
announced Tuesday.
The gray, fluffy chicks hatched just days apart on November 1 and
November 4 and are nesting with their parents, the academy said.
The chicks the size of a tea cup will go through "fish school" where
they will learn to become proficient swimmers and get comfortable with
eating hand-fed fish. Once they are ready they will join the penguin
colony on exhibit in late January.
The academy's new chicks are the second and third to be hatched as part
of its Species Survival Plan program. In January 2013, the academy
hatched its first chick since moving into its new Golden Gate Park
facility in 2008.
African penguins were classified as an endangered species in 2010 and are at very high risk of extinction in the wild. "By engaging the public about why sustaining these and other threatened
species is so critical, we hope to inspire people around the world to
join us by supporting conservation efforts locally and internationally,"
said Bart Shepherd, Director of the Academy's Steinhart Aquarium.
The
penguinarium is the first facility in North America with habitat
created specifically for penguins. A continuous pool surrounding the
three-sided habitat allows the penguins to swim fast enough to porpoise,
or “fly through the water,” as they would in the wild.
The TV station’s camera is live daily from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET, the zoo said on its
Facebook page,
Construction
is under way on what will become the largest exhibit in the United
States dedicated to penguins after receiving a $10 million gift from the
family of Stephen Polk, the former CEO of R.L. Polk Co.
Zoo officials “
broke the ice”
on the Polk Family Penguin Conservation Center in June. The 18-month,
$21 million project is the most ambitious to date for the zoo.
When
complete at the end of 2015, the iceberg-like center will host 80
penguins of four species on the 2.1-acre site near the entrance of the
zoo in Royal Oak.
