#Penguin of the Day

 

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) by Markus Lilje

#Penguin of the Day

 

Macaroni by Oliver Prince

More Images of Calgary Zoo's Baby Humboldt Penguin

CP  |  By The Canadian Press

Posted: 07/29/2015

CALGARY — Officials at the Calgary Zoo are celebrating the debut of a Humboldt penguin chick as part of the facility's breeding program.

Humboldt penguins are listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature, so zoo officials say the hatching of the little seabird helps to safeguard the species from extinction.
The chick was hatched on June 26 and has spent the first month of his life in the burrow close to his parents, Reina and Javier.


Dr. Malu Celli, curator at the Calgary Zoo, says it's the first chick for the mother penguin, who is quite young.

Celli says it's a good sign that Reina has settled in well enough at the zoo to have picked a mate, built a nest, laid an egg and successfully incubated the chick.


The zoo says one Humboldt egg was laid in the past but it was infertile.

The chick is staying in his burrow for now, and his parents are taking turns caring for him.


"They're very protective so it took us a while to get our first glimpse of the little one,'' says Celli.

"They're feeding it tons, taking turns, fifty-fifty, so dad is doing a great job, too. The chick is growing strength to strength every day so hopefully when he fledges everybody will be able to see him.''

Celli says it's a significant day at the zoo.

"When these kinds of births occur it assures us we are getting one step closer to helping save important species,'' she says.



"We haven't had a ton of nests and a ton of eggs but it's how it's supposed to be. It's a very young colony, none of them have been parents before, so it's a learning process for them but all the right steps are there.

"We have no reason to believe that we won't continue to be successful in the future.''

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Interact with coastal creatures with a ‘penguin biologist gone rogue’

Iain Grinsberg 

July 29, 2015

FSU’s Dr. Heidi Geisz, a self-confessed “penguin biologist gone rogue,” will be hosting the “Evening at the Edge of the Sea” event on Aug. 8 along the St. Teresa shore, so put your iPhones aside and spend it with her. Participants will learn about all of the intertidal creatures that exist so close to Tallahassee. Count on seeing fiddler crabs, hermit crabs and numerous species of snails and fish.

“It [the program] highlights the diversity of areas that seem sort of relatively desolate,” Geisz said. “The intertidal area is a tough place to make a living, and yet these critters survive; it’s riddled with a large amount of life.”

The program, which is continuing into the fall, was started by Dr. William F. Herrnkind, a marine biologist and retired FSU professor.

“Dr. Herrnkind began the program so that people could know how charismatic these creatures are,” Geisz said. “He’s made a career out of not just science but out of community involvement and education. He’s helping us locals understand what’s right there in our backyard.”

Our backyard is filled with interesting creatures, such as the rather inconspicuous hermit crab.
“They sense when a snail is being predated, and several of them will come from a wide area to occupy the shell,” Geisz said. “They’ll establish dominance by knocking on each other’s shells, and they’ll go down the line switching shells.”

While you’re there, ask Geisz about the fascinating relationship hermit crabs have with sea anemones, and ask her about her favorite intertidal marine animal, the Florida horse conch—Florida’s state shell and a creature that travels around on one large red foot—and what it does (rather violently) that attracts hermit crabs.

“What occurs in our backyard is important ecologically, but also economically, like how these areas are influenced by what’s happening, say, in Atlanta, how it affects us in a region where fishing is so important,” Geisz said.

Geisz will also be talking about other unique creatures, such as dwarf octopi and toad fish.
“We’re fortunate that […] we’re so close to that kind of diversity,” Geisz said.

For more information, visit www.marinelab.fsu.edu.

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Why Dunedin is the best place to spot albatross and penguins

Take your camera, the telephoto lenses and head to Dunedin, where colonies of albatross and penguins make for spectacular views. 

Nishiraj A. Baruah July 30, 2015

Dunedin is known for the bird made famous by The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the albatross.

Birder, are you? If you have done with the birds of India, how about a trip to Dunedin, a city that is now often called the wildlife capital of New Zealand. The most famous of its birds are penguins and albatross, which are found on the Otago Peninsula, very close to the city.

Albatross cityOtago Peninsula is the place to see the bird made famous by the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel T. Coleridge, in which the mariner, who shoots an albatross, is obliged to carry the burden of the bird hung around his neck as a punishment for and reminder of his ill deed. 'Like an albatross round his neck' is an often used line.

Well, this is where you will catch a glimpse of the bird. With its unique megafauna, Otago Peninsula has long been top of any birder's bucket list. Heading the tally is the northern royal albatross colony at Taiaroa Head, the only mainland albatross colony in the world and easily accessible to visitors.
This is truly an albatross city, where birds pair up, breed, produce young and leave on their grand circumnavigations of the Southern Ocean, only to return and repeat the whole cycle.

The colony resembles a busy airport, and there is always something to see as these giants of the sky lumber into the air or lower their landing gear for touchdown. When a north-easterly is blowing, watch out at the sea cliffs below the visitor centre for a sight of a great white shape sweeping past as it glides along the approach path to the nesting grounds on 3-metre fixed wings. To get to the viewing site, visitors walk through a chaotic breeding colony of red-billed gulls.

The yellow-eyed penguin returns to its nest site after climbing the grassy slopes at Katigi Point, Moeraki.

 Penguins at Pilot's BeachNext come the penguins. At the base of Taiaroa Head, at Pilots Beach, is a burgeoning colony of little blue penguins; in the evenings, guided tours allow visitors to see hundreds of these charismatic seabirds swarming ashore under special lights.

Otago Peninsula's other avian superstar is the yellow-eyed penguin, which nests on bushy headlands on the ocean-facing side of the peninsula and is best seen in the late afternoon when the adult birds begin to come ashore after a day out fishing at sea.

You can take a tour run by tourism operators like Penguin Place, or visit beaches like Sandfly Bay or Boulder Beach and be rewarded with encounters with New Zealand sea lions as well as returning yellow-eyes. Nothing comes closer to the spirit of the peninsula than trudging back from Boulder Beach at dusk, with the haunting calls of penguins echoing across the dunes.

There are more birds in the Dunedin area, but more of it later.

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San Diego Zoo Breaks Ground on New, 8-Acre ‘Africa Rocks’ Exhibit

"Africa Rocks" is slated to open in 2017

By Monica Garske

The San Diego Zoo broke ground Wednesday on a major, $68 million project: an 8-acre space that will be transformed into the new “Africa Rocks” exhibit with a habitat for African plant and animal species.

The largest expansion in the famous zoo’s 99-year history, the Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks exhibit will take over an area once known as “Cat and Dog Canyon.” The transformation will replace 1930s-era grottos and enclosures with new habitats for African species that range from savanna to shore.

San Diego Zoo officials plan to open the exhibit in 2017.

The attraction will include a gently winding, ADA-accessible pathway that leads guests through different types of African habitats, including a West African forest, acacia woodlands, Ethiopian highlands, kopje gardens and a Madagascar habitat.

Renderings of the exhibit were also released Wednesday, as seen in the photo gallery above.

Zoo officials say the project is being funded with a $11 million donation from Conrad Prebys, plus donations from more than 6,500 other individuals. In 2013, Ernest Rady donated $10 million to the exhibit and issued a challenge that resulted in 3,800 individual donors giving more than $20 million toward the project, officials said.

Dan and Vi McKinney donated $5 million for an African penguin habitat within the exhibit. Other donations have come from corporations, private foundations and estates, the zoo says.

Africa Rock will be home to mammals, reptiles, birds and plant life native to Africa.

This includes hamadryas and gelada baboons, vervet monkeys and lemurs. Other mammals in the exhibit will include southern ratel, fossa and an African leopard. There will also be an aviary. Dwarf crocodiles, Agama lizards and spurred tortoises will fill the reptile habitats.

The zoo will also relocate several old-growth trees into the area, including a ficus and sausage tree, officials said. Other African-native plants in the exhibit will include acacia, aloe, Madagascar ocotillo and palms.

A penguin beach area will house African penguins as the San Diego Zoo partakes in an international species survival plan for these endangered aquatic birds. The zoo is currently home to two African penguins that live in the Children’s Zoo area.

Douglas Myers, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Global says the exhibit will be designed to tell a story, and “help connect people to wildlife.”

”We want Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks to showcase Africa, where wildlife and habitat are being threatened like never before,” said Myers.

In true animal-friendly zoo fashion, an African-crested porcupine had the honor of taking the first dig at the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, officials said.

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Antibiotic resistance in wild #penguins amplifies global health problem

Simon Lauder reported this story on Thursday, July 30, 2015
ELEANOR HALL: A wildlife researcher is raising the alarm about the spread of superbugs to wild animals.

The spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is one of the world's most worrying health problems.

This morning Dr Michelle Power from Macquarie University told an international wildlife disease conference in Queensland that she's uncovered evidence that antibiotic resistance is spreading beyond people to wild animals, including the little penguins of Sydney Harbour.

Dr Power has been telling our reporter Simon Lauder that her research is another sign that superbugs could be impossible to contain.

MICHELLE POWER: So we've looked at four different animals. One is penguins, little penguins, the second one is the Australia sea lions which are endangered. The third is brush-tailed rock wallabies and our fourth is actually flying foxes.

SIMON LAUDER: Did you find all had antibiotic resistant bacteria in them?

MICHELLE POWER: Not all of them. Flying foxes don't have antibiotic resistant bacteria, but the Australia sea lions, the little penguin and also the brush-tailed rock wallabies do.

SIMON LAUDER: What kind of prevalence are you talking about?

MICHELLE POWER: The prevalence is fairly low. In wild colonies, we don't tend to see it too much, but it's more in captive colonies where you have that increased interaction with humans which is where the antibiotic resistance is likely to come from and so it can range from as little as 10 per cent up to about 40 per cent, 45 per cent.

SIMON LAUDER: I understand you did find some antibiotic resistance in some wild colonies of little penguins?

MICHELLE POWER: We did. That was a pilot study. We detected resistance in three of about 20 animals, but it's early days for that little colony and so yes, so that was the one in Sydney Harbour over in Manly.

SIMON LAUDER: And obviously the little penguins in Sydney Harbour wouldn't be taking antibiotics so where are they getting their resistance from?

MICHELLE POWER: Okay, so essentially the machinery that causes antibiotic resistance or is responsible for antibiotic resistance in many bacteria is actually quite common in healthy humans, not only sick people, and it's excreted into sewerage via faeces and wastewater and then the mechanisms can make their way into the environment essentially.

SIMON LAUDER: So is that people who have antibiotic resistance and then their waste ends up in the harbour?

MICHELLE POWER: Pretty much, yes. The DNA elements or the machinery aren't actually broken down through the sewage processes so it's the DNA elements that can end up in the harbour and also bacteria also from wastewater runoff from domestic animals as well.

SIMON LAUDER: The spread of superbugs worldwide is a massive problem. What does your research tell us about the hopes of containing that spread?

MICHELLE POWER: Well, I guess essentially one of the issues with the spread of antibiotic resistance is that is a four way mechanism. So we have antibiotic resistance that's quite common and that it has been selected for in humans.

Humans are then contaminating or polluting the environment through various sources but resistance is also now present in production animals and domestic animals, so essentially when their faeces is making the way into the environment, or their poo into the environment, they're distribution of bacteria are also.

So essentially what we're trying to do is to understand how bacteria and antibiotic resistance is moving between that interface - humans, domestic animals and wildlife - and how we can control transmission and understand it from a one health perspective instead of one of those corners alones.

SIMON LAUDER: So presumably wild animals can now pass this resistance among themselves as well?

MICHELLE POWER: Yes, exactly so when we're potentially intervention it or trying to recover or conserve animals, if they've been in an environment where they've picked up antibiotic resistance and they're released into an environment where there's wild animals, they can potentially pass.

But this is an area of study that we don't actually understand and that's something we're also looking at.

So what's the fate of these mechanisms when they do make their way out into the wild?

SIMON LAUDER: What are your concerns about the implications for this finding, for that great world health problem of antibiotic resistance?

MICHELLE POWER: The biggest concern is that essentially that machinery that causes antibiotic resistance are passing through lots of different animals, including humans, then back into the environment and when they're in the environment they can actually get more super powers and pick up different genes that may also given them the ability to resist multiple antibiotics and then they can make their way back again after going through the environment, back into humans or the hosts.

So you can have this amplification of resistance essentially.

So that's one of the biggest concerns I think and obviously control as well into the future if we continue to have this emergence.

ELEANOR HALL: That's Dr Michelle Power from Macquarie University, speaking at the International Wildlife Diseases conference in Queensland and to our reporter, Simon Lauder

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Buster the penguin gets a new lease on life

Wednesday Jul 29, 2015

Buster the penguin on the road to recovery after his toe amputation. Photo / Supplied

A yellow-eyed penguin is ready to return to the wild after life-saving care that included a toe amputation at Wellington Zoo.

The endangered hoiho - nicknamed Buster- was taken to the zoo's The Nest Te Kōhanga facility after suffering a bite to the foot.

The injury caused severe bone and tissue damage, and infection of the injury led to inflammation in the bone of its toe, leaving it with a severe limp which had left it unable to walk.

Wildlife and avian specialists led by Veterinary Science Manager Dr Lisa Argilla administered a course of antibiotics, pain relief and anti-inflammatories to reduce the infection and swelling. However, the toe joint had been badly damaged and began to erode.

"In a case like this, we have the options to either try to fuse the joint with a bone graft, or look at amputating the toe," said Dr Argilla. "In consultation with Department of Conservation, we chose to amputate the toe, as a bone graft would have required a much longer stay in hospital."

Buster's inflamed toe wasn't the only complication. As well as suffering from anaemia of chronic disease, where an animal's health continues to struggle as they fight off infection, Buster was close to going through his seasonal moult.

"For surgical procedures with birds, we have to pluck any feathers around the area," said Dr Argilla. "If we had tried to do the bone graft, we would have had to pluck newly grown feathers - which would have meant he was at The Nest Te Kōhanga for ages.
The amputation meant we could avoid plucking feathers, and get him home in a much quicker timeframe.

"It's always a tough call to amputate, but we knew it would give this precious species the best chance to survive and thrive. In the wild, these birds are under the careful eye of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust and Department of Conservation, so they would be able to respond quickly if Buster ran into trouble in future."

Buster made a swift recovery after the amputation, and within weeks was swimming in a saltwater pool.

"He has been using his foot very well, and has been swimming, walking and preening as he normally would," said Dr Argilla. "We've been in touch with Department of Conservation and the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust to make arrangements to return Buster to his wild home later this week."

Buster will be returned to a beach near Penguin Place, a rehabilitation facility on the Otago Peninsula. His progress will be monitored before deciding on where he will be released to in the wild.

Yellow-Eyed Penguins are one of the rarest penguins in the world and unique to New Zealand. They can be found in the South Island, with nesting sites scattered in the coastal forests, scrub, or dense flax. The population is declining due to land clearing and habitat destruction.

Wellington Zoo was New Zealand's first zoo and is home to more than 500 native and exotic animals.

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Endangered Penguins Charm, from Tiny to King Size (Photos)

Julie Larsen Maher and David Oehler, Wildlife Conservation Society   |   July 29, 2015 

 

African penguin chicks appear darker than the adults and parents in their colonies. It takes several years for the chicks to molt into their adult plumage. Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS View full size image

David Oehler is curator of ornithology at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)'s Bronx Zoo. Julie Larsen Maher is staff photographer for WCS, the first woman to hold the position since the society's founding in 1895. The authors contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Penguins are found in the Southern Hemisphere in all shapes and sizes. But today, they are in trouble. They depend on the oceans for food and need coastal areas to nest, rear their young and molt. Sadly, close to two-thirds of the world's 17 penguin species face population pressures from threats like overfishing, oil spills, and man-made changes to the birds' environment.


Fortunately, there are several things people can do to help protect penguins:

• Review seafood "watch lists" to make sure the seafood you eat is caught or raised in a sustainable manner. Industrial fishing can result in the significant reduction or collapse of fisheries. Through better management of fisheries, creation of marine reserves, and community participation, fish populations and ecosystems can rebound (and are doing so!). Being a responsible consumer is a critical part of this equation; purchasing fish in a manner that prevents further damage to marine environments will have a positive impact on the heath of penguin colonies dependent on these habitats. 
• Large oil spills are lethal to the environment, including penguins, so make sure your activities do not contribute to the problem. Check fuel and oil lines on your boats, on your car and in your home to make sure they are in good condition. And always recycle the old oil from your car's oil changes. Remember, accidental spills of any pollutants remain in the environment and have been shown to accumulate and concentrate in polar regions. 
• Reduce your carbon footprint to slow climate change, a good thing for penguins. Simple acts like properly filling your car tires can reduce carbon emissions and improve your gas mileage by up to 3 percent. Dynamic climate changes produce rapid alterations in the marine environments and within the food chains that are involved. When we take actions to slow these changes (particularly their impact on polar environments), we help penguins to survive.

For more on penguins, see the gallery below.

Diminunitive delights

Consistent with their moniker, "little penguins" are the smallest of the 17 penguin species, at 13 inches (33 centimeters) in height. They are also known as blue penguins due to the indigo sheen of their feathers. They are currently threatened by predators like foxes and dogs, which have been introduced to these penguins' home ranges in Australia and New Zealand. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Hip hoppers

Rockhoppers sport spiky black and yellow crests of feathers that adorn the tops of their heads. These are among the smallest penguins, at about 22 inches (56 cm) tall. Their numbers have plummeted in the last century as their food supply in South America has become scarce.
(Credit: © David Oehler, WCS.)

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Consistent cuties

Magellanic penguins return to the same burrows year after year in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands, leaving in the winter. The female lays two eggs, on a nest in the burrow, and both parents take turns incubating them. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Fluffy fowl

Downy feathers cover newly hatched Magellanic penguin chicks. As a penguin grows and its feathers come in, a juvenile chick will have a combination plumage of both down and adult feathers that resembles a mohawk haircut. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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From down south

Chinstrap penguins are found in Antarctica and the world's other southernmost islands. These birds are distinguished by the feather markings on their heads that look like helmets held in place with a chinstrap, thus the penguins' name. Changing ocean conditions affect their main food source, krill. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Protected by mom

Recently hatched chinstrap chicks are covered in light-colored down that is not waterproof. Their first month is spent tucked under their parents in nests made of stones. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Living and loving

Penguins are social animals that live in colonies, like this one of chinstrap penguins. They have complex courtships that include noisy vocalizations. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Unique specimens

Macaroni penguins are one of six penguin species that have colorful crests of feathers. They are among the penguin species that live farthest south in the sub-Antarctic islands that include South Georgia. (Credit: © David Oehler, WCS.)

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Royalty and success

King penguins are the second largest of the penguin species, standing nearly 3 feet (0.9 meters) tall. These king penguins from Chile look to be dressed for success in their formal black and white feathers and distinctive, bright-orange throat feathers. (Credit: © David Oehler, WCS.)

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An odd association

The African penguin is also known as the black-footed or jackass penguin. That last alternative name comes from the donkeylike braying sound these birds make. This species is found on the southwestern coast of Africa, from Namibia to South Africa. African penguins grow to 27 inches (69 cm) in height. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

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Young and different

African penguin chicks appear darker than the adults and parents in their colonies. It takes several years for the chicks to molt into their adult plumage. (Credit: © Julie Larsen Maher, WCS.)

In addition to documenting field visits, Maher photographs the animals at WCS's five New York-based wildlife parks: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. Oehler works with all birds and has a special interest in penguins. He conducts conservation work in South America with rockhopper penguins, macaroni and king penguins. The Wildlife Conservation Society protects wildlife and wild places, and continues to explore how to conserve the areas where penguins are found. Penguins live in three of WCS's wildlife parks in New York: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and New York Aquarium.

 Learn about wildlife on the WCS photo blog, Wild View, including more on penguins in several Wild View penguin posts.

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#Penguin of the Day

 

"It was this big...honest!" by Paul Dean

Northern Rockhopper 

It’s a boy! Penguin chick born at Calgary Zoo

By Stephanie Joe Global News

The Calgary Zoo announced the hatching of its first Humboldt penguin chick. The newest member of the zoo’s penguin colony arrived on June 26, 2015.
Calgary Zoo

CALGARY- Proud penguin parents welcomed their first hatchling at the Calgary Zoo on Sunday.
The first Humboldt penguin to be born at the Calgary Zoo is thriving.

According to zoo officials, his parents Reina and Javier are caring for him in his new habitat.

“This hatch is a significant boost for our captive Humboldt population,” says Dr. Malu Celli, Curator, Calgary Zoo. “When these kinds of births occur it assures us we are getting one step closer to helping save important species.”

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Humboldt penguins are considered susceptible to extinction. Humboldt penguins are one of the animals in the zoo’s Species Survival Plan, which is put in place to safeguard them from becoming extinct.

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Penguin chicks less than week old win hearts at Featherdale Wildlife Park

• LAURA BANKS
• News Limited
• July 29, 2015

Head keeper Chad Farr holds penguin chicks less than a week old. Picture: Chris Pavlich
 

THEY’RE just days old but these fairy penguins have already stolen the heart of one grown man. 

Featherdale Wildlife Park general curator Chad Farr said, despite 18 years in the job, he had never tired of raising these tiny native Australian “treasures.”

“They’re beautiful and it’s such an incredible feeling to have these tiny little chicks absolutely dependent upon you,” Mr Farr said. “They have so much character from the time they are born. It’s such a rewarding experience.”

Mr Farr said the penguins’ gender would be determined by DNA testing when they are about six weeks old and, once the young penguins started to mature they would then be sent to other wildlife institutions throughout Australia for breeding.

“We’re very strict with who we put them with, genetics is critical to ensure long-term survival and the best breeding,” he said.

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Magellanic Chick: An Aquarium Cutie's Debut

The bird, born in June, will join other penguins in the June Keyes Penguin Habitat in August.

By Alysia Gray Painter

Robin Riggs/Aquarium of the Pacific

 

A Magellanic Penguin chick, born in June, will join the Aquarium of the Pacific's June Keyes Penguin Habitat just after the middle of August.

 

The first question, upon arriving at the June Keyes Penguin Habitat at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, isn't the sort of squeal you'll emit -- "squee" or "awww" is most likely -- or whether you'll want to take a penguin of your own home, an urge shared by most visitors.

It's where you'll stand along the water line, as seen through the habitat's clear walls. Stand below and you'll see penguin feet treading; stand above and you'll spy sweet beaks. And stand anywhere in the vicinity, on Tuesday, Aug. 18, and you'll behold the newest member of the aquarium's penguin group, a born-in-June chick.

Cue the heartfelt squees and awwws.

The wee Magellanic Penguin has no name; keepers aren't sure if Baby is a boy or girl quite yet. It's hatch day is of course known -- that was June 5 -- and that it is among the third generation of penguins to be born at the Long Beach aquatic institution.

If you know Roxy and Floyd, they're the chick's mum and dad, and Anderson and Heidi are the baby bird's siblings.

And if you possess deep penguin knowledge, and we're fairly confident you do, you know that a newborn penguin needs time to develop its "watertight juvenile feathers," feathers that take the place of the "downy layer of plumage" that is the penguin's very first coat.

Yep, this process is called fledgling, and, yep, you absolutely should squee and/or awww here, if you're so inclined.

So how will keepers determine if this newest nursery inhabitant is a girl or boy? A blood test. As for what's on the nursery menu, "hand-fed fish" is the special of the day, and every day, while the chick is in the house.

If you can't wait for Aug. 18 to get your in-person, stand-at-the-water-line coos on, you can start dreaming your baby penguin dreams now. Join the aquarium's Adopt an Animal program for fifty bucks and try for a possible chance for a penguin encounter and "a one-of-a-kind painting by a penguin chick."

There's no way to come back from the cuteness of that particular thought, nor should any person try. Just clear the third Thursday in August, if you need some up-close looks at this baby, and dream of how soft a "downy layer of plumage" on a new-to-this-world penguin must be. 

Maybe the softest substance in the Solar System? We'd go with that.

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Dramatic Video Shows Penguin Escaping Her SeaWorld Tank

YouTube/TimmyDozois

By Anna Swartz

28 July 2015

It's easy to tell when an animal doesn't want to live in a cage. A captive penguin was caught on camera hopping the fence of her enclosure, escaping her tank and waddling around in the crowd for a moment before being tossed back into her artificial habitat. 

Timmy Dozois of Clermont, Florida, captured the incredible moment when the brave penguin launched herself straight out of her tank, toward her gawking human audience.

Dozois uploaded video of the escape back in January 2014. According to Dozois, the video was filmed in SeaWorld's 'Empire of the Penguin' exhibit. He explained in the YouTube video description:

"Alright guys, this little penguin (who, after I shot the video and was talking to a Team Member, I found out she is one of the mischief makers at Empire of the Penguin) kept jumping up at the glass, as if she was trying to escape."

YouTube/TimmyDozois
 
While the staff who spoke with Dozois may have dismissed the escaping animal as a 'mischief maker,' it seems pretty clear that this penguin didn't just want to cause trouble — she wanted to get out of her tank.


The video clearly shows someone in a uniform picking the penguin up and casually tossing her back into the water … almost as though this is something that happens with mundane frequency.

YouTube/TimmyDozois
 
Dozois seemed to have been delighted to experience such an up-close encounter with a penguin, calling the episode "the best thing to have ever happened to me so far in life."

Unfortunately, as cute as penguins are, the video also speaks to the dark side of captivity. In 2014, captive penguins at a sanctuary in the U.K. had to be given antidepressants after their caretakers noticed they were looking "miserable." A penguin who escaped his artificial pool at a Tokyo aquarium managed to live in Tokyo Bay for months before being captured and brought back into captivity.

SeaWorld has also been known to steal penguin chicks from their parents in the wild and raise them in captivity, so it's possible that this feisty penguin knows there's a big, wild world out there … and she's just trying to get back to it.

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Watch the whole video here:

#Penguin of the Day

 

Snares Crested Penguin (Eudyptes robustus) by funtopia.tv

WATCH: NSRI rescues distressed penguin

27 July 2015

by MornéJK jk -  

The NSRI Simonstown crew members rescued a penguin during a sea rescue training exercise in the Simonstown yacht basin.

According to a statement by die NSRI, the Penguin appeared to be in distress, only swimming in circles while flapping one wing.

"The Penguin seemed to be taking breaks appearing to try to clean itself in between the swimming efforts and then flapping one wing and again only going around in circles," the statement read.

A dark brown smudge could be seen on the chest of the Penguin.


"A large net was brought to the scene by TMNP rangers and the Boulders Beach Penguin Sanctuary officials and they used the net to assist the NSRI Simonstown volunteers to safely capture the Penguin with the least amount of stress to the animal."

The Penguin had been heavily oiled and was transported to SANCCOB to be cleaned and rehabilitated.

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#Penguins of the Day

 

Penguins at the Indianapolis Zoo by craig markert

Penguin rescued off Simonstown

2015-07-26

News24 Correspondent

(Vano Shlamov, AFP)

Cape Town - A penguin which had been covered in oil, was rescued off in Simonstown, the NSRI said on Sunday.

The bird was spotted during a sea rescue training exercise in the Simonstown yacht basin on Saturday, National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon said.

“The Penguin appeared to be dark in colour and seemed to only be able to swim in circles while flapping one wing.”

He said the penguin also seemed to be trying to clean itself and a dark brown smudge was visible on its chest.

Officials were called onto the scene and used a rope to capture the penguin with the least amount of stress to the animal.

“It appears that the Penguin had been heavily oiled and the Penguin has been transported to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds [SANCCOB] to be cleaned and rehabilitated.”

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Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) - Monte León National Park, Patagonia, Argentina by Andrea Schieber

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‘Bird man’ to star in new penguin TV show

Saturday 25 July 2015
Diana Henderson 

 

POOLE man Adrian Walls, now head bird keeper at ZSL London Zoo has a starring role in a new ITV documentary being aired this Sunday.

Meet the Penguins sees Adrian, formerly of Belmont Road, Poole on his quest to see endangered Humboldt penguins in their native habitat of Peru in South America.

Having cared for penguins at the zoo for over a decade, Adrian, a former pupil of Ashdown Technology College at Canford Heath, harboured a life-long dream to see the flightless birds in the wild.

Their numbers have dropped drastically in recent years following over-harvesting of the guano on which they build their nests, being accidentally caught by fishermen and natural disasters.

Recently recovering from an operation to treat a rare brain tumour, Adrian jumped at the opportunity to visit his favourite animals in Peru.

Travelling from the capital Lima to penguin stronghold Punta San Juan in Marcona, he saw firsthand the challenges faced by those working tirelessly to protect Peru's penguins.

“I am utterly fascinated and enchanted by all bird species, but penguins have always held a special place in my heart, and I feel so lucky to have been able to see them in the wild," said Adrian. "My journey to Peru was one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

“Despite working with these birds every day at ZSL London Zoo I still felt a huge thrill when I first saw them in the wild, and to witness a chick hatching from an egg was simply exhilarating – it really put the huge efforts of the conservationists working to protect them into context.

“Having the camera focussed on me 24/7 took some getting used to, but I can’t wait to tune in on Sunday and relive my Peruvian penguin adventure.”

Adrian started his career in bird keeping at Merley Bird Gardens and manages a large team looking after more than 100 different species of birds.

The documentary is being shown at 7pm.

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