The events are inspired by Penguin Awareness Day marked on January 20 but the catalyst for a month-long education campaign
A penguin takes a dip in the pool.
All things penguin are being celebrated at Twycross Zoo this month
with the arrival of a special statue and fun-filled family activities. The events are inspired by Penguin Awareness Day marked on January 20 but the catalyst for a month-long education campaign. The zoo has a group of 19 Humboldt penguins which in the wild are classified as a vulnerable species.
Dr
Charlotte Macdonald, director of life sciences at the village
attraction, said: “Our penguins are very popular with visitors and they
each have unique personalities which are fascinating to observe.
“Penguins are such an iconic species and as a zoo we have an important role to educate people about them and their conservation. Although
they are hugely popular in adverts and children’s films, people often
forget a lot of penguin species are threatened in the wild and we hope
our penguin appreciation month will give people a better understanding
of the species and the pressures they face.”
Among the activities taking place are a penguin zoo trail and
an obstacle course which visitors can tackle while protecting their own
eggs. A statue of Monty, the penguin made famous by the John
Lewis Christmas advert, will also be at the zoo for fans to have their
photograph taken with him.
Penguin Parade takes place daily at
12.30pm and 3.30pm when the zoo’s education rangers give talks to
visitors while the birds are fed.
The penguins will also receive enrichment activities each weekend such as exploring a bubble machine in penguin lagoon. Humboldt penguins live in coastal Chile and Peru in South America.
The
zoo’s penguins all have names inspired by the sea including Coral,
Shrimp and Fin, and they can be identified by their individual colour
coded arm bands.
The Penguin Camera is located on Torgersen Island (64°46’S, 64°04’W), off the coast of Anvers Island and less than a mile from Palmer Station. Torgersen Island is home to a colony of Adélie penguins numbering approximately 2,500. This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, the Adélie breeding season. The camera is solar-powered and may sometimes experience brief outages due to inclement weather. School classrooms and other educational demonstrations will often take control of the camera, moving it to gain better views of the colony.
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