BMC seeks replacement for dead penguin, activists fume

Richa Pinto | TNN | Oct 26, 2016

MUMBAI: A day after an 18-month-old Humboldt penguin, Dory, died at Mumbai's Byculla zoo, the BMC has already gone ahead and written to the procurement agency to seek a replacement for the flightless bird—a move that has animal rights activists up in arms.

Dory, among the youngest in a batch of eight penguins aged between 1 and 3, was so unwell that she had to be put on oxygen for a day before she died on Sunday. Now, there are seven penguins in the quarantine facility created within the zoo premises. Zoo director Dr Sanjay Tripathi said, "We have written to Goa Farming Co Ltd, the procurement agency that was also responsible for the maintenance of the birds for the first three months, to seek a replacement. Now that one has died, we have written to the agency seeking a replacement free of cost."

Meanwhile, officials said they do not want to depend on the contractor alone for keeping a check on the birds' health.

They have, therefore, written to the Bombay Veterinary College in Parel requesting it to send in a team of doctors to inspect the remaining birds. The birds are currently being fed mackerel. Earlier, they were being given smelt, bombay duck and eel. The birds' random food samples are sent for testing.

TOI has also learned that chillers that are critical to cool both air and water in the quarantine facility were brought in September--almost two months after the birds landed in the city zoo. What's worse, these are still to be made operational. While ACs can cool the area where the penguins are housed, water can only be cooled with chillers. Penguins require chilled waters to swim. "While air-conditioners are able to control the temperatures up to 16 degree Celsius, chillers can bring down temperatures further to 12 degree Celsius," said Tripathi.

The penguin that died lost almost 300gm weight during its illness. "As she was young, her immunity was lower. We tried everything possible to help her recover. However, her condition continued to deteriorate and she had to be put on oxygen for the almost a day before she died," said a veterinarian in charge of looking after these penguins.

Dory's post-mortem report, which was conducted by the department of veterinary pathology at the Bombay Veterinary College in Parel, a copy of which is with TOI, revealed that all the lobes of her lungs were congested and her liver was enlarged. "On the basis of the history provided by the zoo and the post-mortem lesions, it appears that the penguin may have died due to some infection (bacterial) leading to septicemia (blood poisoning). However, detailed investigations are on," the report said.

Work on exhibiting the penguins for public viewing is yet to be completed, with officials saying November 30 was their target.

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3 Penguin Chicks Hatch At Maryland Zoo (video)

October 26, 2016 



BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The first three African penguin chicks of the breeding season have hatched at the Maryland Zoo.
The first chick hatched on October 20 to parents Portia and Beckham while the second chicks, offspring of Ascot and Dennis, hatched on October 22 and October 25.
Breeding season for the birds at the Penguin Coast exhibit at the zoo begins in mid-September and lasts until the end of February.
Penguin chicks typically hatch 38 to 42 days after the eggs are laid.
The Maryland Zoo has the largest colony of African penguins in North America, with more than 75 birds.
In September, Penguin Coast was awarded Top Honors in the Exhibit Award category from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) during the AZA Annual Conference.

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SeaWorld Makes Mini Wetsuit for Penguin Losing Feathers

After experiencing feather-loss, a female Adelie penguin at Orlando's SeaWorld has given a handmade wet suit by the park's wardrobe designer. The feather loss is hindering the penguin, known as Wonder Twin, from regulating her own body temperature. "It's going to keep her warm, especially in the water," said SeaWorld aviculturist TD Dray. "Penguins live almost three-quarters of their life in the water. And now with that wet suit she's going to be in there and be able to keep warm."

Published on Oct 27, 2016

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NASA Collaboration Allows Citizen Scientists To Lend A Hand In Penguin Conservation

By NASA  //  October 25, 2016

Adélie penguin nesting on the Antarctic Peninsula. (NASA Image)

(NASA) – Tracking penguin populations in Antarctica is a critical component of understanding environmental changes in the region.

Now, thanks to a collaboration between NASA and Stony Brook University, citizen scientists can lend a hand through the use of a new, interactive, and user-friendly website that tracks Antarctic penguin populations and provides information to scientists.

The tool, known as the Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Projected Dynamics (MAPPPD) and available at www.penguinmap.com, is the first of its kind to give citizen scientists a lens into the world of scientists working to understand how environmental change, fishing, and tourism may be affecting Antarctica’s iconic birds.

“The launch of this website has the potential to greatly improve management and collaboration around the Antarctic,” said Heather Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, who led the project. “MAPPPD contains data for approximately 1,300 historical and current surveys in over 700 sites around the Antarctic continent. These data come primarily from published literature, though population estimates based on satellite imagery are also used by researchers and represents a growing component of MAPPPD’s utility.”

Lynch, along with Mathew Schwaller of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, teamed up with Washington, DC-based NGO Oceanites, Inc., to develop the new website, which will allow scientists and policy makers to make conservation decisions regarding the Antarctic environment.

Antarctica has always been a challenging place to work, and penguin researchers have struggled to track populations of penguins breeding in Antarctica’s most remote areas. But recent developments in using satellite imagery from NASA and other sources have paved the way for a more complete understanding of where penguins breed and how their populations might be changing.

While the satellite imagery cannot detect the penguins themselves, it can detect the large guano stains the penguins produce while incubating their nests. Lynch and her team have been able to use the imagery to locate new colonies of penguins that no one knew existed, some of which are among the largest in the world.

The website also allows anyone to query all publicly available penguin census data. Any user can also access the latest modeled population estimates for Adélie penguins around the Antarctic continent, as well as the probability of presence and breeding for all other avian species on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Lynch also explained that researchers with data to contribute to MAPPPD have a variety of ways to do so, as do keen-eyed tourists who, in the summer months, actually outnumber scientists in the region and can contribute important information through bird checklists and photographs.

Additionally, MAPPPD’s utility as a data hub for Antarctic penguin biologists will grow as new datasets are uncovered and can be integrated into population models that both describe past trends and may be used to predict future trends.

The easy-to-use interface includes a number of informative outputs that are immediately available for environmental impact assessments or scientific reports. The website also contains fact sheets on the four penguin species for which count data are available, links to relevant publications, and information about how users can contribute their own data.

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Autopsy report confirms penguin died of severe bacterial infection

• Badri Chatterjee, Hindustan Times, Mumbai
| 
• Updated: Oct 25, 2016

The post mortem identified that the bird’s respiratory and circulatory (heart) system was choked (HT file photo)

---

Dory’s autopsy report revealed that she died of a severe bacterial infection that led to septicaemia (bloodstream infection). The autopsy was conducted by the Bombay Veterinary College, Parel. However, Officials from the Byculla zoo said there are no specific reasons that could be attributed to the infection.
“While the necropsy (autopsy) report establishes the presence of bacterial infection, there is no specific cause for the development of such bacteria. However, it is clear the bacteria had harboured into the penguin’s intestines but it has nothing to do with food poisoning,” said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, zoo director. “The infection could have been triggered due to dysfunctional organs in the bird’s body.”
Though Tripathi added chances of other penguins contracting the infection are negligible, he refused to deny its possibility. “The remaining birds are healthy and they are eating normally,” he said.
The post-mortem identified that the bird’s respiratory and circulatory (heart) system was choked. “The trachea was congested, air sac appeared thickened and cloudy, and all the lobes of lungs were congested with frothy exudates oozing out. The pericardium (membrane enclosing the heart) had a cloudy and a yellowish-whitish layer was formed over the surface. The heart showed presence of haemorrhages and vessels appeared dilated with all chambers empty,” stated the report.

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Brought from Korea 3 months ago, penguin dies in Mumbai zoo

Press Trust of India  |  Mumbai  October 23, 2016 

 

A female humboldt penguin today died at the city zoo, barely three months after it was procured along with seven others from an aquarium in South Korea.

The penguin, weighing around 3kg, showed symptoms of dullness, inappetance (shunning food), greenish stools and laboured breathing on October 18. The bird was subjected to various medical tests and attended by a veterinary doctor, but could not survive, the zoo officials said.


Eight penguins, including five females, were procured from Coex Aquarium in Seoul on July 26 and brought to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (the zoo). The flightless birds were to be made available for public viewing from mid-November at the municipal corporation-run zoo at Byculla.

These birds have been kept in a quarantine facility at the zoo under 16 to 18 degrees Celsius temperature as per international standards, the officials said in a release.

"The (ill) bird was immediately attended by a veterinary doctor and its stools were examined. A culture sensitivity test was also conducted which found the presence of gram-negative bacteria. Accordingly, appropriate treatment was started in consultation with an exotic birds specialist," the statement stated.

"The bird, however, did not respond to the treatment and on October 19, a blood test was conducted which showed elevated liver values," it added.

The zoo authorities said X-ray and ultrasonography tests were also conducted in which no specific observations were noticed in the penguin.

"The bird did not respond to treatment and died today at 8.17 am. A post-mortem was conducted by Mumbai Veterinary College in Parel," it stated.

The exact cause of death will be known after the post- mortem report comes in.

Meanwhile, the seven other Humboldt penguins are healthy and under observation, the officials said.

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Nesting penguins put a halt to Urenui seawall construction

JEREMY WILKINSON

October 21 2016

CHARLOTTE CURD/Fairfax NZ

 

Where the wall stops at Urenui beach the erosion begins.

Penguin conservation is getting in the way of bach protection at a popular summer holiday spot.
Urenui Beach is visibly eroding and last month the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) forked out $100,000 to complete the half-finished seawall built to slow the erosion process.
However, penguins have begun nesting underneath baches near where construction was due to begin last week, forcing a halt to the work on the remaining 140 metres until the council can reach a solution with the Department of Conservation.

Bradley Ambrose

 

300 metres of the wall was completed in 2001 but for 15 years it was left unfinished.

Urenui resident Murray Wells has been fighting to have the seawall finished for years and said it needed to be done by Christmas before holiday-makers flocked to the small town.

"They're not actually anywhere near where the construction will happen, but I guess you can't be too careful," he said.

CHARLOTTE CURD/FAIRFAX

 

Urenui beach is just one section of Taranaki's coastline that is slowly being eroded.

"They prefer to hop up the rocks of the already built portion of the seawall."
Wells said the penguins were a staple of Urenui and came every year to nest under the baches nearest the beach, but construction could not continue while they were nearby.
NPDC infrastructure manager David Langford said a meeting with DOC was set up next week to discuss whether working around the penguins was an option.

Sam Scannell

 

Nesting season for blue penguins typically ends in February.

"If we can't work around them then construction could be delayed until February when the nesting season ends," he said.
"We have a responsibility to protect the penguins so if we're going to disturb them we can't work."
Langford said work on the seawall was due to begin a week ago but the council was told about the penguins by the Ngamotu Marine Reserve Society.

"We had a meeting with the society and it was brought to our attention that they had seen signs of penguins," he said.
"We would have started working already if the penguins hadn't been found."
Ngamotu Marine Reserve Society chair Anne Scott said the society kept data on wild life all around Taranaki's coast.

"The council sometimes contacts us when there's work to be done on the coast," she said.
"In this case they have got in touch and asked whether we knew about any penguin activity."
Scott said she was sure the council and the penguins could reach a harmonious solution.

"When they are nesting they are very vulnerable and there are chicks in those nests already," she said.
The Taranaki Regional Council issued consent to the NPDC for construction of the wall and part of the consent was to not impact on penguin breeding areas.

Council director of resource management Fred McLay said in the event penguins were found in the immediate vicinity of any construction then work would have to cease immediately.
"NPDC has notified the council that penguins have been found in the area and that work has ceased," he said
"When NPDC has advised the council of their mitigation plans work can commence."

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Fears over new parasite threat to already-dwindling penguin numbers on SA 's Granite Island

Posted Mon, October 10, 2016
 

Photo: The penguin population had been fighting back after years of population decline. (ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

South Australia's already-dwindling little penguin population could be further endangered by a blood-borne parasite, according to an ecologist who has been surveying them.

The population on Granite Island at Victor Harbor has been recorded as being in decline since the 1990s.
In 2000, there were about 1,600 penguins on the island. This week, just five breeding pairs were counted.
The little penguins were thought to have been fighting back - with 22 birds recorded in last year's count.
Attacks by predators such as seals and dogs - as well as a higher number of tourists - had been cited as contributing to the long-term drop.

But now another possible cause has emerged - the parasite Plasmodium - which has recently been discovered in South Australia's little penguin colonies.
"[The] birds have a blood parasite - 80 per cent - including Plasmodium," Flinders University penguin ecologist Diane Collombeni-Negrel said.
"We thought 80 per cent was fairly high ... our task now is to figure out ... whether its peculiar to the SA population."
To do that, Dr Collombeni-Negrel said blood samples from birds in other colonies such as Phillip Island would be taken and compared.

She said the Phillip Island colony was growing, describing it as "nice and healthy" with "high numbers".
"If their [Phillip Island] numbers - in terms of parasites - are a lot lower and that's only the South Australian [colony] that have the high number of Plasmodium then we need to worry about it a bit more," Dr Collombeni-Negrel said.

Photo: The little penguins are a big tourist drawcard to Granite Island at Victor Harbor. (ABC News: Natalie Whiting)

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Young penguin at The Deep in Hull named after Sir David Attenborough

Posted: October 06, 2016

By James Campbell

NAMING HONOUR: The Deep's gentoo penguin Attenborough has been named after the famous naturalist and broadcaster who wrote a letter saying it was an honour

Renowned broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough says he is "greatly flattered" after staff at The Deep named a penguin chick after him.

Aquarists at The Deep have finally been able to discover the sex of the two gentoo penguin chicks which hatched in June from DNA in a tail feather.

The first chick to have hatched from parents Nessie and Shackleton is a male, and has been named after Sir David Attenborough. The second chick from parents Leo and Diane is female, and has been named Lizzie in honour of the Queen.


Pictured is The Deep's gentoo penguin Lizzie which has been named after the Queen alongside a letter sent by the aquarium
 
The Deep wrote to inform Sir David Attenborough of his namesake and received a hand written reply saying he is "greatly flattered that (they) should have given (their) new Gentoo my name". He has also congratulated The Deep on "all (they)u are doing to further conservation causes".
 
Katy Duke, curator at The Deep, was delighted to receive the hand-written letter.

She said: "We are very honoured and touched to have received a handwritten reply from Sir David Attenborough. He is an inspiration and an amazing role model who inspires us all by his conservation work and by engaging everyone with the natural world.

"Lizzie and Attenborough are now fully grown and living happily with our adult birds.

"We work with the European breeding programme for Gentoo penguins and so in time our individual birds may move to other facilities in order to form new breeding groups."

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International gathering of penguin minds reinforces need for SANCCOB work

By: Valeria Ruoppolo

Posted: Wed, 10/05/2016
 

With more than half the world's penguin species listed as Threatened under IUCN criteria, the 9th International Penguin Congress was a timely opportunity for researchers, reserve managers, conservationists and zoo professionals to come together to share their latest research findings and management efforts, and to review penguin conservation programs from around the world.

Held every three years, the Cape Town meeting attracted more than 220 attendees. The International Penguin Congress attracted a large contingent of students undertaking higher degrees on penguins, providing them with the opportunity to meet with other students and more senior researchers to draw on their knowledge and expertise.

A special two-day workshop was held for attending students and early career scientists. I am a mentor for the International Penguin Early Career Scientists, a group established to promote interest and offer guidance in their scientific careers. My involvement with this group allowed me to share details about my career and individual skills that facilitated reaching my professional goals.

In May 2016 I was invited to be a member of the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group. And during a pre-conference workshop, the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group evaluated the status of global penguin populations. Based on my expertise I assisted in evaluating the status of Spheniscus penguins (African, Galapagos, Humboldt and Magellanic Penguins), all of which are under IUCN Red List conservation status.

Of concern, however, is that African Penguin numbers have decreased since the last evaluation, with only 22,000 breeding pairs left in Namibia and South Africa. This long-term population decrease reinforces the importance of conservation actions such as the Chick Bolstering Project and oil spill response support offered by IFAW to local partner Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).

I visited SANCCOB before and after the conference. IFAW supports their efforts to rehabilitate African Penguins and other seabirds, and the visit provided the opportunity to strengthen relations and talk about oiled wildlife response in South Africa.

--VR

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Gentoo penguin undergoes surgery in China

Tue Oct 4, 2016

 

A Gentoo penguin in China has undergone emergency surgery for accidentally swallowing a pebble.

 

Footage shows that the penguin kept a pebble in its mouth, when another penguin tried to seize it, and the first penguin swallowed the stone quickly to retain it.


Gentoo penguins usually collect pebbles to build nests. After the penguin was admitted to a hospital, doctors conducted a gastroscope inspection on the bird immediately.


They say almost all the tools they used were made on the spot because their medical facilities are designed for human beings.

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Endangered penguins return to the wild

  Monday Oct 3, 2016

From left: Gari, Louie, and Denny the endangered Tawaki Fiordland Crested Penguins swim together at The Nest Te Kohanga. Photo/supplied by Wellington Zoo

An endangered penguin has been returned to the wild after being treated for abdominal wounds at Wellington Zoo.
Louie the Fiordland crested penguin or tawaki has been returned to the West Coast of the South Island after he was found wounded on the same stretch of coastline as three other Tawaki. They were all found within three days of each other.
The penguins were originally found and cared for by the West Coast Penguin Trust, then flown to Wellington to receive further treatment at The Nest Te Kohanga.

Louie and another penguin, Danny, were treated for abdominal wounds, while another penguin named Wedgie is still receiving treatment for a flipper wound.
It is not known how the penguins were injured, a Wellington Zoo spokesperson said.
Three of the four tawaki are recovering well and are expected to return to the wild in the next two weeks.

Wedgie and Danny must remain at The Nest Te Kohanga until they regain their waterproofing.
The waterproofing assessment involves the birds swimming in a salt water pool for four to six hours a day under supervision. Their feathers are then assessed to monitor how waterproof they are.
Meanwhile, the remaining penguin, Alex, is still recovering from an injured jaw. The wound around Alex's mouth is healing well, but Alex's beak started to scissor and cross over the tip, the spokeperson said.
Carers are correcting his beak.

"The outcome for the four tawaki is positive at this stage and we really hope that we can release all four of them back to the wild. Returning sea birds back to the wild is an important part of what we do at The Next Te Kohanga as it contributes to the ongoing conservation efforts of nationally endangered species, like the tawaki," the spokesperson said.
"During this time of the year we see a lot of penguins coming through to The Nest Te Kōhanga. We ask that the community keeps their dogs on a lead while out along the coastline to help protect our native sea birds that may be nesting in the area."

- source: NZ Herald

Spending time with Antarctic penguins

WILL HARVIE

October 3 2016

Antarctica NZ

Emperor penguins and chicks at Cape Crozier colony. 

 

Most of Antarctica New Zealand's upcoming science season concerns climate change, but some lucky researchers get to spend time with penguins. WILL HARVIE reports.
Kiwis have been studying penguins as long as Kiwis have been going to Antarctica.
This summer, Antarctica New Zealand is planning three penguin research projects.

John Mitchell/Antarctica NZ

Adelie penguins on a newly formed ice floe in the northern Ross Sea in 2007-2008. 

 

Probably the most ambitious will be a return trip to Cape Adare, site of the largest adelie penguin colony in the world. That expedition is being led by Antarctica NZ's chief science adviser Gary Wilson.
He and colleagues visited the remote cape, 750 kilometres north of Scott Base, last summer and Morgan Coleman of Landcare Research attached geolocator  tags to 78 adelies.
This year's mission is to retrieve as many of those tags as possible. That's a task because there are almost a million adelies at Cape Adare, according to a 2015 census and finding 78 specific animals is needle in haystack stuff. Fortunately, says Wilson, adelies usually return to their traditional nesting sites.

Jason Edwards/Antarctica NZ

Michael Armstrong gathers adelie penguin chicks.

The tags store the data and must be retrieved to be useful. They give latitude and longitude positions twice a day and the data will tell scientists where the birds have been over the last 12 months.

It is known adelies must have access to open water – that's where the food is – and they probably follow the ice-sheet edge as it expands over winter. The birds then return to breeding colonies on land in spring as the sea-ice breaks up.

But exactly where the Cape Adare adelies go in winter isn't known and the tags will clear that up, if enough can be retrieved. Wilson hopes to retrieve all of the tags but is realistically expecting to lose a third to half of them.

If the study proves successful, scientists could use more sophisticated tags that record temperature, the salinity of sea water and how deep the Cape Adare adelies dive in search of food in winter. Again this isn't well known.

There's a bigger point to the Cape Adare project, Wilson says. It concerns climate change.
It's hard to know if change is caused by global warming or expected variability from year to year, or regional differences, he says.

By tracking a predator like penguins and expanding to other species and measures, Wilson and colleagues hope to get a much fuller picture of what's happening at Cape Adare, for example.
"If you can integrate all of the trends ... you'll get a long-term ecological tool" that makes predicting the effects of future climate change sharper, he says.

Adelie penguins at Cape Adare are in a "key location close to the confluence of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Continental Shelf, so impacts on Antarctica from the Southern Ocean and from Antarctica on the Southern Ocean should be able to be disentangled".

Meanwhile, Phil Lyver of Landcare Research and colleagues will assess mercury contamination in emperor and adelie penguins on Ross Island.

Mercury is a naturally occurring element, but it is also released by human activities such as fossil fuel-fired electricity generation, mining and waste incineration. It is transported in the atmosphere to polar regions where it is deposited in to the ocean and on to snow and ice, Lyver says.

It is taken up by microorganisms and travels up the food chain to krill, squid, fish and predators such as penguins.

A small number of penguins from the Ross Sea region recently showed low concentrations of mercury (about 1 part per million of mercury). "Anything above 5ppm is of concern," Lyver says.

This study will provide a better benchmark of mercury in penguins for the Ross Sea, but will also assess how it varies according to species, age and sex.

The birds are restrained using a specially adapted crook or net and then bagged, weighed, measured and observed. Feather samples are taken and these will be analysed for mercury at the University of Canterbury by MSc student Natalie Pilcher.

Emperor penguins, the largest of the penguins, weighing up to 30kg, can be a handful. Even the smaller adelies, at 4kg to 6kg, are fierce and have "absolutely" left Lyver and colleagues with scars and bruises.

The researchers expect emperor penguins to have more mercury in their feathers than adelies because the assumption is that emperors feed higher in the food web.

Lyver has been to Antarctica almost every season since 2004 and has a 10-year backlog of penguin feathers for the University of Canterbury team to analyse.
"We're expecting a low result," he says.

Meanwhile, Fiona Shanhun  of Antarctica NZ picks up responsibility for an annual penguin census in the Ross Island region, home of Scott Base. The first census was taken in the 1981-82 season and has been done almost every year since.

The technique hasn't changed much. A photographer leans out of a plane door and shoots colonies as the pilot flies a grid pattern. Back in the lab, the photos are stitched together. In the old days, a technician discerned birds from rocks and the count was manual.

These days software does the counting – with oversight by humans.

The good news is that some penguin colonies in the Ross Sea have basically doubled in size since 2001.
Lyver, who used to oversee the census, hypothesises that expanding sea ice – and a longer sea-ice season – have "provided a great platform for foraging".

Climate change does not cause uniform change across the southern continent. Sea-ice extent and penguin populations are both dropping precipitously on the Antarctic Peninsula south of Chile. Penguin census data are available to all at a Nasa-funded database, penguinmap.com.

None of the penguin projects take a great deal of time.

Gary Wilson expects to be based at Cape Hallett for two weeks and get four days at Cape Adare, travelling between them by chopper. The census takes place over a couple of weeks in late November and early December.

Fiona Shanhun will be among the team going to Cape Adare. She'll be on the Ice for 76 days this summer, including a stint at Scott Base as part of the leadership team.

 - Stuff

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