March of the vinyl penguins

June 10, 2010

A visitor examines a giant penguin made out of waste-based vinyl at the 32nd International Exhibition on Environmental Technology and Green Energy, which began yesterday at COEX in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. The exhibition offers business demonstrations as well as forums and seminars in the field of environmental technology and energy conservation. It will continue until Saturday. [YONHAP]

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Denver Zoo with B.Lee 161
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Surveying my estate...
Originally uploaded by Debbie JT

... from the Galapagos

Little Penguins Are Back

Curb your dog: little penguins return to Manly

03 Jun 10 @ 03:15pm by JOHN MORCOMBE

THE little penguins are back at Manly Wharf and Federation Point - six weeks ahead of schedule - and Manly’s penguin wardens are warning people to keep their dogs on their leash near both locations.
Penguin warden Angelika Treichler said there is currently one breeding pair at each spot. “Luckily they’re the more timid ones,” she said. “They don’t sit outside a lot and don’t attract attention but they still have to make their way to and from their burrow and that’s when they’re most at risk.

“We’ve already found some owners letting their dogs run free, so we’re asking people to be vigilant.”
The early arrival of the little penguins followed the release on Wednesday of the Manly Little Penguin Project’s monitoring report for last season that showed the colony had overcome the killing of 10 by dogs and foxes early last season.

It’s believed the penguins that lost mates early last season were able to find new ones in time to breed, lifting the number of fledglings to 118 on 96 active nests.

The breeding season for the little penguins nominally begins on July 1 and runs until the following February.
Ms Treichler said she had never seen the little penguins arrive so early and said it could be the warm water, the presence of more bait fish in the harbour or the climate.

More penguin wardens are required. Anyone interested can call her on 9976 2176.

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Snares crested penguins landing
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Come on Over!
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"Hey, dude! Don't 'cha wanna come over here?"

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I know I can fly!!
Originally uploaded by utahbabyblues

Penguin chicks enjoy the Edinburgh sunshine

Edinburgh Zoo's gentoo penguin chicks have been enjoying the tropical temperatures in the Scottish capital.

 June 5, 2010 

While many Brits have been digging out their swimwear and heading to the beach or park to enjoy the sun, these feathered Scots are from a species more at home in the chilly climate of the Falkland Islands.

Edinburgh Zoo's penguin chicks are learning to walk (PA)

 

However, the 45 chicks who have been born since May 7th during a bumper breeding season at the zoo seemed to be relishing the 21°C temperature as they splashed around their enclosure taking their first teetering steps.
Roslin Talbot, Edinburgh Zoo's head keeper of penguins, said visitors to the zoo could not stop commenting about how cute the chicks were.
"Penguin chicks are adorable and are really just small, unstable versions of their parents with more fluffy juvenile feathers," she said.

The young birds have also been a hit with wildlife lovers around the world who have been following their progress by logging on to the zoo's online penguin cam.
And the keeper expects people to keep track of the chicks as they enter the most entertaining phase of their early lives.
"Over the coming weeks, as the younger chicks catch up with the older ones, there'll be lots of amusing waddling and exploring the enclosure further away from mum and dad," she added.
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Baby penguin chicks finding their feet at Edinburgh Zoo

Tiny gentoo penguins started hatching at the zoo on May 7.

05 June 2010

Baby penguin chicks have been finding their feet at Edinburgh Zoo .

The gentoo penguins, which began hatching from May 7, are developing a sense of adventure and exploring their world beyond the nest.

During mating season, zookeepers placed large doughnut-shaped nesting rings and pebbles in the enclosures. The males presented the females with a pebble love token during courtship.

More than 100 eggs were laid and 52 have hatched so far, with 45 surviving.

Penguin keeper Roslin Talbot said: "Penguin chicks are adorable and are really just small, unstable versions of their parents with more fluffy juvenile feathers.

"Over the coming weeks, as the younger chicks catch up with the older ones, there'll be lots of amusing waddling and exploring the enclosure further away from mum and dad.

"Visitors coming to see the penguins can't stop themselves from saying: 'Ah aren't they cute?"'

The chicks are fed by both parents until they are three months old. The adults regurgitate part-digested food - when hungry the chicks simply peck on the parents' beaks which causes the adult to "cough up" the morsels.

Adult feathers develop at about three months, when the parents stop providing food and the chicks begin to fend for themselves. Couples normally each have one chick or two.

Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) are medium-sized, about 76cm tall and weigh an average 5kg. In the wild they are found in remote islands, especially the Falklands and South Georgia in the southern Atlantic, and on the Antarctic peninsula.

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This Week's Pencognito!

Come see Jen and all the Pengies HERE!!

SF-Based Court Settlement Mean New Protections For Seven Penguin Species

by Bay City News

June 4, 2010 11:42 AM

Seven species of penguins in the Southern Hemisphere will receive protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as a result of a settlement reached in federal court in San Francisco.
U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti on Thursday signed off on a settlement reached between the U.S. Interior Department and two conservation groups.
The groups are the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Ariz., and the Turtle Island Restoration Network, based in Olema, which sued the government earlier this year.
Catherine Kilduff, a lawyer in the center's San Francisco branch office, said, "Penguins are poster children for the devastating effects of climate change."
Center scientists say that warming oceans, melting sea ice and commercial fishing have wreaked havoc on penguins' food supply.
Turtle Island Restoration Network biologist Todd Stein said, "Finally the government is throwing penguins a lifeline to recovery by protecting them under the Endangered Species Act."
The Center for Biological Diversity's bid to protect the penguins began with the filing of a petition with the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006.
In December 2008, the service concluded that the seven species should be listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act because of threats from climate change and commercial fishing.
When the service failed to complete the listing process within one year as required by the law, the two groups filed their lawsuit.
The settlement provides that the Fish and Wildlife Service will publish final listing determinations for five of the species by July 30, and for the other two in September and January.
The seven species are African, Humboldt, yellow-eyed, white-flippered, Fiordland crested and erect-crested penguins and a population of the southern rockhopper penguins.
The two groups said they plan to file another lawsuit against the Interior Department for denying listing protection to two other species, the emperor and northern rockhopper penguins.

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Winner of Syracuse zoo's 'name the penguin' contest: Esteban

By John Mariani / The Post-Standard

June 03, 2010, 10:22AM

Submitted photo 

The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park held a contest to name the penguin, one of nine hatched at the zoo this spring. The winning name is Esteban.Syracuse, NY – Call him Esteban.

That’s the name that won the most votes in the Rosamond Gifford Zoo’s contest to name the first-hatched of this year’s clutch of nine Humboldt penguin chicks, County Executive Joanie Mahoney announced at a ceremony this morning at the Burnet Park Zoo.

“Esteban” was one of the six finalists selected by judges from 607 names submitted in the first phase of the contest. It received the most votes, 350, out of the 968 cast in the contest, said Lorrell Walter, speaking for the zoo.

Esteban is Spanish for "Steven," and Hannah Caccamo, 8, of Kirkville, submitted it. Her dad's name is Steven, and because penguin fathers care for their chicks and eggs, it would be cool to name this chick for the dad who takes care of her, she reasoned.
Hannah will receive a VIP tour of the zoo’s penguin facility and become Esteban’s adoptive parent for a year.

Only 17 votes behind was "Juntos," the name submitted by Ashleigh Kinder, a kindergarten teacher from Skaneateles who teaches at the International School in Antofagasta, Chile. Because the vote was so close, another chick will receive that name, zoo officials said.

Juntos means “together” and was picked by the class after it talked about the need for unity and helping people out in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated parts of the South American nation.

Zoo officials said they have named four more chicks, dubbing them Gabriela, Guillermo, JJ and Veinte. They are waiting to learn the genders of the remaining three before naming them.

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Dogs are a penguin's best friend

• By Malcolm Holland
• From: The Daily Telegraph
• June 03, 2010 12:00AM

Keen noses ... Gus (at front) and Katie / Pic: Ross Schultz Source: The Daily Telegraph

 GUS and Katie's keen noses and energy are a vital weapon in the battle to protect Sydney's endangered colony of little penguins. The springer spaniels' abilities have been put to use this week to sniff out foxholes at North Head as the penguins prepare to breed on nearby shores around Manly."Breeding season starts next month and we want to find the foxes and bait them," Department of Environment and Climate Change threatened species officer Kylie McClelland said.Attacks by foxes and dogs left at least 10

"When they were puppies we introduced Gus and Katie to fox fur, dummy foxes, their urine and droppings
and road kill so they know what to look for," their trainer Steve Austin said.


"But one of their biggest assets is also their energy - they just want to get out there and work."
There are just 66 known breeding pairs of penguins at Manly, although more nest in unknown nearby locations.
Despite fears the fox and dog attacks would seriously deplete the breeding colony, it appears the penguins overcame their setback, with an investigation of last year's breeding season finding an increase in the number of breeding pairs in the colony.
There were 96 active nests and 118 successfully fledged chicks, indicating a particularly good breeding season.

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