Former ‘gay penguins’ Buddy and Pedro produce eggs with their female mates

Published on Tuesday November 13, 2012 

 

TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR Buddy and Pedro in their "bromance" days. With a little encouragement from the zoo, both have now paired up with females and are busy making eggs.

 

 

Video: Pedro and Buddy @http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1287374--former-gay-penguins-buddy-and-pedro-produce-eggs-with-their-female-mates

Love is in the air... male African penguins Buddy and Pedro are exhibiting signs of mating behaviour.

 

Donovan Vincent
Staff Reporter

Eggs are popping out all over the place in the Toronto Zoo’s African penguin exhibit, and half of them belong to Buddy and Pedro, the pair whose bromance made international headlines last year.
Buddy and Pedro and their female mates are two of the four pairings of endangered African penguins at the zoo that have laid, collectively, six eggs in the past few days.

Depending on which eggs are fertilized, the hatching should start sometime in mid-December.
But zoo officials and staff have their fingers crossed, because there are no guarantees.'

For instance, Buddy and his partner, Farai, produced two eggs that hatched last February. But sadly, the excited new parents built a nest that was too tight and accidentally smothered the chicks.
This time they have one egg, with a second expected later this week.

Pedro and his partner, Thandiwe, recently produced two eggs, their first, explained Tom Mason, the zoo’s curator of birds and invertebrates.

Last year, five African penguin chicks were born at the zoo, and three males survived.
Buddy and Pedro were initially inseparable last year, standing close together and making amorous noises. Some people dubbed them the “gay penguins,” a curiosity that launched them to world-wide fame.

Male same-sex pairs in a few other zoos around the world have even raised penguin chicks together in the past.
But Toronto Zoo officials hastened to explain that it’s not uncommon to see same-sex pairings among penguins — or other species, for that matter.

It’s also common for them to bolt for the opposite gender once the new animal is thrust onto the scene.
That’s what happened last year, when the zoo separated Buddy and Pedro for breeding purposes — to the consternation of some members of the public.

They soon locked on to their female mates, and haven’t looked back — at each other — since, say zoo officials.
There are 11 African penguins in Toronto’s enclosure, five of each sex and a lone male. A female died.

To encourage the animals to pair up last year, zoo handlers had them nesting in isolated quarters, away from the public. This year the bonds stuck, Mason said, and the birds are roaming around freely with their mates.

“It’s very early in the year for us. Last time they took two months before any decided to lay eggs. This time it’s two weeks,’’ Mason said of the recent egg-stravaganza.
Ziggy and DJ were the first to lay eggs this season, and they have two.

Colby and Greenbird have one egg, and are expected to have a second by the end of this week.
A fifth pair, Shaker and Flap, are digging a nest, but haven’t produced eggs yet.

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From the tanks of sky blue waters: Shedd brews "Penguin Hops"

Revolution Brewing used hops grown in the Shedd’s gardens. | Brenna Hernandez~Shedd Aquarium

BY BAILEY DICK Chicago Sun-Times  

November 12, 2012

For all you do, this Shedd’s for you.

The Shedd Aquarium is going into the beer business, sort of.

Hops from the Shedd’s gardens are being brewed up in a local craft beer.

After being planted five years ago in an effort to beautify the grounds during construction, the Shedd’s hops were harvested this month and made into beer by Revolution Brewing, a craft brewery in Logan Square.

The beer, dubbed Penguin Hops, will go on sale Nov. 28 at Revolution’s two locations.

Shedd officials hope it will help put the spotlight on the gardens.

Containing more than 400 plants, the aquarium’s gardens already provide homes to migrating birds and help feed the aquarium’s animals. All of the plants are organically grown without chemicals or pesticides.

But the gardens are largely overshadowed by all the fish and other sea creatures on display.

“The fact that we’re making beer brings attention to the gardens,” said Christine Nye, the Shedd’s manager of horticulture. “Lot’s of people don’t know we have a garden.”

The 15-foot-tall hops plants were just an aesthetically-pleasing part of the aquarium’s exterior until this fall, Nye said.

When a Shedd staffer and homebrewer noticed the plants, the employee suggested that the hops be turned into beer. Nye took the idea to Shedd’s development team, who organized the partnership with Revolution.

“They are local, and they do support a lot of the same sustainability initiatives that we do,” Nye said of the brewer. 

The Shedd staff harvested the hops, and delivered them to the brewers at Revolution earlier this month. The craft brewery then used the hops to make Penguin Hops.

And craft beer aficionados can feel good about their imbibing. For every pint of Penguin Hops sold, Revolution is donating $1 to the Shedd to support their conservation efforts. 

While there will be a limited supply of Penguin Hops, Nye says this may not be the last time you hear of the beer.

“If the beer is warmly received, we would be very open to doing it again,” she said. 

The beer is still brewing, but will go on sale Nov. 28 at Revolution’s Brew pub at 2323 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square, and at their Tap Room located at 3340 N. Kedzie.

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Voyagers up for penguin-census

By Allison Rudd on Tue, 13 Nov 2012

News: Dunedin

Yellow-Eyed Penguin trust field ranger Leith Thomson (left), of Dunedin, and Dunedin-based Department of Conservation (Doc) ranger David Agnew (centre), have their gear checked by Doc Invercargill quarantine store assistant Chris Pye before their trip to the Auckland Islands. Photo by Allison Rudd.

They are about to board a yacht and travel 465km south into the notoriously rough waters of the Southern Ocean, but two Dunedin men say they are ready for the challenge.
Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust field ranger Leith Thomson and Dunedin-based Department of Conservation (Doc) ranger David Agnew are part of a 12-person team leaving Bluff today for the Auckland Islands aboard the 25m yacht Evohe.

Another six-person team is also leaving Bluff today aboard the 15m yacht Tiama, heading further away - 700km - to the Campbell Islands.
Both wildlife expeditions will conduct the first comprehensive survey of yellow-eyed penguins on the subantarctic island chains.

Mr Thomson, who works mainly on Otago Peninsula and the Catlins, will spend a week living in a cabin on Enderby Island with former Oamaru Doc ranger Dave Hewson, now of Auckland. Their task will be to find penguin nests, mark birds, release them and count them on their return to their nests.
Mr Agnew will live aboard the Evohe with the rest of the team, making 4am starts for dawn penguin-counting duties on the beach.

Both men have been to the subantarctic islands once before and are keen to return.
"It's a pretty unique place.
The scenery and wildlife is pretty amazing. And it is good to be involved in a project like this," Mr Agnew said.

Mr Thomson and Mr Agnew are the only two Dunedin people on the expeditions, but three others have Otago links.
Doc subantarctic islands management ranger Jo Hiscock, of Invercargill, is originally from Ettrick, Radio New Zealand journalist and zoologist Alison Ballance, of Auckland, lived in Dunedin for 18 years, and volunteer Alister Robinson, of Sydney, also lived in Dunedin.

There are an 1464 to 1704 yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) breeding pairs on mainland New Zealand, including Stewart Island.
The subantarctic islands were the stronghold for the penguins and Doc wanted to get a better picture of how big the populations there were, Ms Hiscock said yesterday.

"We know from previous research the penguins will be sitting on nests incubating eggs at the moment, and that is the best time to conduct a survey.
But it is going to a challenge getting ashore, especially if we have the strong winds and rough seas, which are very common down there."

The expeditions were costing between $80,000 and $90,000, she said. Six volunteers from a range of backgrounds including a retired engineer, a real estate agent and an investment manager were paying $6000 each to participate in the trip and help with the count, Ms Hiscock said.

Asked why the groups were travelling on charter yachts, she said it was to save money.
"Yachts are cheaper to hire and operate than fishing boats because you are not burning fuel, and they adapt better to rougher weather. They are also better equipped for on-board living."

The yacht skippers, Steve Kafta on the Evohe and Sandy King on the Tiama, were experienced skippers who had been to the subantarctic islands before, she said.
The Evohe is expected to be away about 11 days and the Tiama about 16 days.

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Penguin Invasion: South African Town Is Fed-up with Stink and Braying of Endangered Birds

Posted by David Braun of National Geographic on November 12, 2012

African Penguins, Stony Point, Betty's Bay, South Africa.

CNN

When the African penguin made a comeback to the South African mainland in the 1980s, most people were thrilled that the embattled bird was again breeding in places other than on a few rocky islets off the coast of Cape Town. Fences and viewing platforms were erected to protect the penguins from tourists flocking to see them. The adorable penguins stimulated business for restaurants and gift shops.

Penguins Bray Like Donkeys

But all that’s changed for Betty’s Bay, a coastal town east of Cape Town where the local people feel the penguins are getting out of hand, especially as the fences built to protect them have fallen into disrepair and the pushy birds have started taking up residence in suburban yards. According to a report on CNN (video above), Betty’s Bay residents have had enough of the stinky birds and their constant noise, which they say keeps them awake at night. These birds are loud. “African penguins are also called jackass penguins because of their donkey-like bray,” says the Encyclopedia of Life on its web page about them.

According to the Encyclopedia of Life, the species, Spheniscus demersus, breeds at 25 islands and four mainland sites in Namibia and South Africa. “In the 1980s, the species colonized Stony Point [the Betty's Bay site] and Boulders Beach on the South African mainland, and recolonized Robben Island. Immigration to mainland sites in recent years has been attributed to an eastward shift in the species’s prey populations. Just seven islands now support 80 percent of the global population. Its population at the beginning of the 21st century had fallen to about 10 percent of its numbers 100 years before…Declines have continued, with the global population in 2009 estimated at just 25,262 pairs, equating to a decline of 60.5 percent over 28 years (three generations),” the Encyclopedia of Life says.

News Watch reported last year that a colony of African penguins living and breeding on a small island off the southern tip of Africa is fighting an increasingly desperate battle for survival. Their numbers are declining drastically despite the care of conservation organizations which have banded together to give them help, even by providing them with nesting homes to shelter them from the sun and to hide their eggs and chicks from sea gulls.

“Their plight is typical of the increasingly precarious situation of the species as a whole which last year shifted from Vulnerable to Endangered on the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species,” News Watch correspondent Leon Marshall wrote.  

Read his post: African Penguin Colony at the Edge of Extinction.

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I have wilder hair than you!, a photo by poormommy on Flickr.

Breeding season sees Gentoo penguin eggs hatching at Sea World on the Gold Coast

• Greg Stolz
• The Courier-Mail
• November 12, 2012 

NEWS- Baby Gentoo Penguins are hatching at Seaworld. Pic by Luke Marsden. Picture: Luke Marsden Source: The Courier-Mail

THE pitter-patter of happy little feet will soon be heard at Gold Coast theme park Sea World, as a waddle of new baby penguins hits the ice. 

A record breeding season has led to 13 Gentoo penguin eggs being laid, with several hatching in recent days. The park's $12 million Penguin Encounter exhibit was the centre of attention as the chicks began to poke their heads out from under their feather 'quilts' - their parents' protective tummies.

"The gorgeous little chicks range from 12 days old to newly-hatched and are all doing well and growing at a rapid pace," senior penguin keeper Katrina Krygger said.

"We are very excited that our visitors will get to watch them grow. The older of the chicks have almost tripled in weight from 100 grams to 300 grams since hatching after a 38-day incubation period."

Female penguin Ember and her partner Widget are first-time parents of the two older chicks and are taking turns incubating them and feeding them regugitated fish - in between warding off other penguin parents trying to steal stones from their nests.

About half a tonne of small black volcanic stones were placed in the enclosure by Sea World staff for the penguins to build their nests, but stone-pilfering is a common penguin trait.
She said it was the best breeding season since the Penguin Encounter opened in 2010, with only two chicks born last year.

The new chicks, which will grow up to about 7kg when they mature in three years, will join 24 other Gentoo penguins on the ice at Sea World.

The attraction's 14 King penguins are also now in mating season and it is hoped they will produce their first offspring next year.

Sea World is inviting the public to name the Gentoo chicks through its Facebook page.

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Antartica, a photo by Lívia B. Auler on Flickr.

Adelies

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20121103_lah_0978, a photo by poormommy on Flickr.

Shake it off!

Calgary Zoo King Penguins In Snow For The First Time (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post Canada  |  Posted: 11/10/2012

The Calgary Zoo's penguins explored the outdoor habitat at the Zoo for the first time this weekend.
The king penguins ventured into the Penguin Plunge and will be able to enjoy the weather until spring.

The duration of their stay outside also depends on the weather. The penguins will be able to be outside until spring unless it turns unseasonably warm, said the Calgary Zoo in a release.
'It was clear to see that they were right at home in the snow and cold," the Zoo adds

The Penguin Plunge, the home for four penguins, had a grand opening in February of this year.
Guests were encouraged to wear black and white possible or even dress up as a penguin.

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This Week's Pencognito!

Please click here to visit Jen and all the pengies

TSK! Austin school district cancels UT play about same-sex penguin parents

AUSTIN SCHOOLS

Emily Freeman 

 

Facilitators get the show, "And Then Came Tango" started by doing an interactive activity with a Round Rock High School audience, October 30, 2012. The facilitators lead the students in a soundscape activity where the students make sounds with their mouths to create the atmosphere of an aquarium, which starts the show.

 

By Jody Serrano 

A University of Texas play about two male penguin parents has ruffled feathers at the Austin school district, prompting the cancellation of 10 scheduled performances at Austin elementary schools.
Written by UT theater graduate student Emily Freeman, “And Then Came Tango” is a play about Roy and Silo, real penguins at New York’s Central Park Zoo who were given a fertilized egg and raised the hatchling, Tango, together.

UT students first performed the play for second-graders at Lee Elementary School in Central Austin in October. District officials raised concerns about age appropriateness and suspended the play, finally canceling it at the end of the month.

This is the first time the district has canceled a UT performance.

“The subject matter communicated in the play is a topic that Austin ISD believes should be examined by parents/guardians who will discuss with their elementary school age children at a time deemed appropriate by the parents/guardians,” Greg Goodman, the Austin school district’s fine arts director, said in a letter to UT’s Coleman Jennings, the head of the university’s youth theater program.

The Austin school district has routinely allowed UT students to perform their works in schools to satisfy degree requirements. Freeman said she was disappointed about the cancellation of her play and said the work was meant to communicate messages of fairness, equality and love.

“The play is about different families,” and under state teaching standards, that’s appropriate for kindergarten, Freeman said, referring to state curriculum standards. “I can’t see the argument that it’s not age appropriate for kids in second and third grade.”

She said the cast and crew have performed the play for private schools in the area, as well as at Round Rock High School and Del Valle Middle School.
Jonathan Saenz, president of the conservative Texas Values group, said he believes the district made the right decision.

“We define marriage very clearly in the state of Texas. So if you have a play that tries to push and promote a different marriage definition, which is clearly illegal, it leads students to ask questions about it, and it leads to the discussion of sex,” Saenz said.

Some schools and advocacy groups, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender group Family by Choice, have agreed to sponsor free performances of the show.
Carmel Drewes, whose son attends Ridgetop Elementary School in Central Austin, said the district overreacted and said she hopes her son will have the opportunity to see the play.

“The more that kids are encountering various symbolism and representations of family structure, the more normal it becomes,” Drewes said.

Freeman said she is working on what she could do differently to eventually show the play in the Austin school district. There will be free performances in the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre, 300 E. 23rd St., from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1. For showtimes and more information, call 471-5793.

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