Woodland Park Penguin News

Penguins prep for Woodland Park Zoo debut

Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo is nearly ready to open its first major new attraction in a decade: the $6.5 million Humboldt Penguin exhibit. Twenty penguins arrived March 17 in Seattle, and are plumping, playing and preening in quarantine at the zoo, in preparation for the exhibit's opening to the public May 2.

By Lynda V. Mapes
Seattle Times staff reporter

(To learn more:
www.zoo.org/penguins or 206-548-2500)

They may be the world's most pampered penguins, nibbling on all-you-can-eat fish, hand-fed between naps and swims, as their custom-built home is readied next door.

But what else could be expected for celebrities? For these 20 Humboldt penguins, gathered from zoos around the country, are soon to be stars in the first major new attraction at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo in a decade: the 17,500-square-foot, $6.5 million penguin exhibit, opening to the public May 2.

The exhibit marks the return of penguins to the zoo after a hiatus of about a year, while the old exhibit was demolished and the new one built in its place. The eight Humboldt penguins from that exhibit reside today in other zoos.

The new penguins, from 1 to 20 years old, arrived March 17 and have been resting up in quarantine. Keeper Celine Pardo feeds the penguins twice daily a diet of capelin, smelt and silversides -- penguin Twinkies, she says, feeding each penguin according to its preference.

"Radar," she calls softly, handing the penguin its fish. "Margarita," she says to another, and the penguin two-steps over to gobble a fish, swallowing it whole. Some like their fish tossed, some want to be fed to the left side of their beak, some to the right.

Standing only about knee-high, the penguins weigh only about 9 pounds. Naturally flightless, they are an even mix of males and females. Many were hand-raised from birth, and readily come when called, to be weighed or fed or examined.

Two of the penguins, Radar and Pizarron, were hatched at Woodland Park, but like the others, were flown in from five zoos around the country, traveling in dog kennels.

Most so far have found the transition to Woodland Park easy. None has taken ill, or even missed a meal, settling into the quarantine facility built just behind the exhibit.

And what an exhibit it is, with walls of windows under water, so visitors can watch the penguins swim at speeds of up to 17 miles an hour. It includes replicas of nesting cavities and rock scrambles to play in, and the entire exhibit is outdoors.

It is intended to be an immersion exhibit that transports visitors to a replica of the penguins' natural environment on the desert coast of Peru, with rocky, guano-encrusted cliffs.

The exhibit was also built to save water and be easy on the environment. Rain water will be used to refill the tank, and a manufactured wetland will help cleanse the water. The water will be heated and cooled geothermally in deep tanks extending below the exhibit.

But the magic, of course, is the birds themselves. Braying like donkeys with voices outsized to their diminutive stature -- not for nothing are they called jackass penguins -- on land they stump about, their bodies rocking side to side as they waddle. Once in the water it's another story: The penguins are all streamlined, fluid grace. The exhibit includes underwater mounds to encourage the penguins to dive and swoop through the water.

Endangered in the wild, the birds are expected to thrive at the zoo. Eventually, the exhibit may be home to as many as 60 birds as the animals reproduce, and more are brought in from other zoos. Part of the work for the penguins while in quarantine is establishing a social order as a colony, as they do in the wild.

Some of the animals traveled as a mated pair. But most are not, and will need to size one another up. The animals were selected from the various zoos for genetic compatibility, and penguins usually breed with great success in captivity.

The exhibit includes tunnels to nest areas, where the animals can rear their young. It takes about 40 days for eggs to hatch, with both parents tending the nest.

For now, the colony's residents are males PJ, Quanto, Chiquito, Raul, Mateo, Diego, Pizarron, Oedipus and Burkles; and females Sardinia, Margarita, Rocky, Dora, Pupito, Radar, Cujo, Erika, Gonzo and Anchovetta. One bird, a male, is unnamed -- but may have a name from his former zoo. Pardo is looking into it.

"Most people might not think of birds as having personalities, or being very smart," Pardo said. "But they are very responsive to their names. And each one is very much an individual."

Story and video courtesy of the Seattle Times @
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008982141_penguin04m.html

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The Penguins Have Migrated Back To Woodland Park Zoo

By Rebecca Whitham

Seattle, WA - Last spring it was “Bye-bye, birdies” when Woodland Park Zoo closed the penguin exhibit and moved its Humboldt penguins to other zoos. A year later, a new colony of the tuxedoed birds has arrived and a dramatically new exhibit awaits the popular birds.

As part of the zoo’s excellent animal care program for its animals and new arrivals, the flightless birds are currently in quarantine in the interior enclosure of the new exhibit.

The newly arrived penguins, 10 males and 10 females, moved from various zoos and aquariums: Brookfield Zoo (Chicago), SeaWorld (San Diego), Rosamond Gifford Zoo (Syracuse, NY), Saint Louis Zoo and Aquarium of Niagara (Niagara Falls, NY). The birds range in ages from 1½ years to 20 years old.

The new Humboldt penguin exhibit opens to the public on Saturday, May 2, 2009.

The all new exhibit transports zoo visitors to the desert coast of Punta San Juan – home of the largest colony of wild Humboldt penguins in Peru. The 17,000-square-foot
naturalistic home features shoreline cliffs, viewable entrances to nesting burrows, rocky tide pools, crashing waves and a beach.

With special windows and acrylic walls, dramatic vantage points will offer guests nose-to-beak viewing as penguins splash, dive and “fly” underwater. Other observations for visitors may include seeing the birds feeding, preening, and squabbling over nesting sites during the breeding season (February/March) – much like they do on the Peruvian shores in the wild.

As part of Woodland Park Zoo’s ongoing commitment to “green” practices, the penguin exhibit is built sustainably including: geothermal energy; an innovative filtration system that will save 3 million gallons of water and nearly 22,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year – the equivalent of saving 24 million pints of drinking water, and heating five, new two-bedroom townhouses each year; containment of and recycled stormwater runoff to conserve tap water and prevent pollution of our surrounding streams and other natural water sources.

The new population of 20 penguins arrived at Woodland Park through recommendations by the Humboldt penguin Species Survival Plan (SSP) to ultimately form a breeding colony. As conservation ambassadors, the endangered penguins will help heighten awareness about their plight in the wild.

Species Survival Plans are cooperative breeding programs that work to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability in North American zoos and aquariums. The Humboldt penguin SSP is among 39 SSPs that Woodland Park Zoo participates in, including the western lowland gorilla, ocelot, Komodo dragon and red panda. Under the auspices of AZA, SSPs also involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, reintroduction and field projects.

People do not usually think of penguins as a desert species. Unlike their ice and snow-dwelling Antarctic cousins, Humboldt penguins inhabit hot, dry coastlines in Peru and Chile. They live on rocky mainland shores, especially near cliffs, or on coastal islands. Humboldt penguins have a body made to swim. Using their strong wings, they “fly” underwater, usually just below the surface, at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. They steer with their feet and tail.

It is estimated that only 12,000 endangered Humboldt penguins survive in the wild. Overfishing of anchovies – the penguin’s primary food source – and other human activities, such as the harvesting of guano deposits, which penguins rely on to build nests in, pose the greatest threats to their survival. Woodland Park Zoo is committed to conserving Humboldt penguins by supporting the Humboldt Penguin Conservation Center at Punta San Juan, breeding endangered penguins through the Species Survival Plan, and encouraging visitors to choose sustainable seafood options.

The $6.5 million penguin exhibit is made possible by public and private support by more than 550 donors, including the King County Park Levy, community fundraising campaigns, The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities.

For more information about Woodland Park Zoo, visit www.zoo.org or call 206.548.2500.
Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting international standards for zoos all over the world. The 21st century zoo is helping to save animals and their habitats in Washington state and around the world. By inspiring people to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.

601 North 59th Street * Seattle, Washington 98103, USA * 206-548-2500 * 206-548-1536 * TTY 206-548-2599 * www.zoo.org

Image and story courtesy of Zoo and Aquarium Visitor @
http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle-1184-The_Penguins_Have_Migrated_Back_To_Woodland_Park_Zoo