Penguin Hatchlings In The UK

Following a successful first year, Seaview Wildlife Encounter has again been asked to help with Longleat’s penguin exhibition, which it opened last year. Seaview Wildlife Encounter director Lorraine Adams said they were anticipating another successful breeding season for their popular Humboldt penguins, with plans to send more chicks to Longleat. Last year 18 chicks made the journey from the Island to Longleat. Lorraine said: “The penguin egg assembly line has started in earnest with eight eggs laid and an estimated 12 more possible pairs successfully producing two fertile eggs each. “Hatching will start around the beginning of April and into early May. The chicks will be hand-reared in their early days at Seaview and then moved to Longleat, where its keepers will take over the responsibility of rearing these precious penguins.”

Snap A Penguin Contest

NIAGARA FALLS NY– With their comical waddles and sleek, tuxedoed looks, penguins can make inviting photo subjects. That’s why the Aquarium of Niagara is now inviting photo submissions for a contest to help celebrate the popular aquatic birds. The first-prize winner in the contest will earn a meet-and-greet with a penguin. Second prize will be an 8-by- 10-inch unframed penguin art piece from the Aquarium. Honorable mention will earn a 4 x 6 inch art piece. Winners in the contest will be showcased during a Penguin Days Celebration to be held March 23-24 at the aquarium.

Contestants are allowed to submit up to five photos of penguins – taken locally or anywhere around the world – for their entry. Deadline for the photo submissions is Wednesday. All entries will be returned. “Most of the photos submitted to us have been taken by locals who take photos here, but we did have someone once who went to the Antarctic and took pictures of other species,” recalled Dan Arcara, supervisor of exhibits for the aquarium. The aquarium boasts 10 Humboldt penguins, Arcara said. These include William, who dates back to the aquarium’s original colony settlement in 1978, as well as 7-year-old Bobbi, a female, and Chile, a male. William is at least 38 years old, but his exact age is undetermined because he was an adult when he was brought to Niagara, Arcara explained. “They generally live 15 to 18 years in the wild, and much longer in captivity,” Arcara said of the penguins. Arcara promised many more interesting penguin facts during the celebration, which he called “a very popular event” for the aquarium, typically drawing close to 2,000 visitors over the two-day span. “The Humboldt penguins are from Peru and northern Chile – from a warmer climate,” he said. “Most people think of snow and ice and cold when they think of penguins because of what we see in the media and in movies, but of the 18 known species of penguins, only a half-dozen are from the Antarctic region. The rest are from warmer climates in South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”

In order to be part of the contest, all photographs must have the entrant’s name on the back of the photo with location and title. The contest is not open to aquarium employees or their immediate family members. Photograph submissions must be no smaller than 5 by 7 and no larger than 8 by 10 inches. Digital images may be submitted at 300 dpi or greater. Photos may be mailed to the Aquarium of Niagara, Exhibits Dept., 701 Whirlpool St., Niagara Falls, NY 14305.

Can a penguin take a bad picture?

Penguin Named By 1st Graders

The Penguin Post has learned that a group of children in the first grade on a field trip in Syracuse N.Y. got to name a baby — a baby Humboldt penguin, that is.  There were many “oohs” and “aahs” when the Humboldt penguin chick was revealed at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse.  The visiting first-graders decided to name her Magdelena.  The children chose the name from three options, each representing the penguin’s Latin-American origins.  Magdelena is the first Humboldt penguin chick to hatch at the upstate New York zoo this year.

Pepe The Penguin

”Pepe” the penguin weighs just 6 pounds and stands less than 2 feet tall and yet he has been promoted to ambassador at Brookfield Zoo. The Penguin Post has learned that this unique story is taking place in Brookfield’s Living Coast – Rocky Shores habitat. It features Pepe, a five-month-old Humboldt penguin who is learning to roam freely with the zoo visitors, especially the kids.

Pepe and friends.

There are no bars and no glass between Pepe and new pals. “We’re just starting his training,” said Tim Snyder, curator of birds and reptiles. “He will be visiting with the guests and special events at the zoo, giving him training and getting him used to the people.” The whole idea is for Ambassador Pepe to teach conservation about his critically endangered species from the coast of Peru. What better way to teach than to get up close and personal to get Pepe to be one of us? “He actually thinks he’s one of the people,” said Snyder. “He’ll walk through there, visit with people. And he gets time to visit his penguin pals but he likes to be with people.” Pepe hatched five months ago, weighing in at about 2 ounces. Officials decided to raise him by hand and that’s why he’s so used to people … and why he likes the kids and the kids like him. Pepe only roams free once or twice a week, when the crowds are small and Pepe is in a fun-loving mood.

Penguin 337 Earns A Name

The Penguin Post has learned that the penguin whose break-out from an aquarium in Japan gave him a following around the world is to be formally named after months of being known just by his number, an official said yesterday.

The Penguin known a 337 will soon have a name.

Humboldt penguin No. 337 spent 82 days at large in and around Tokyo Bay after bolting his enclosure, evading aquarium staff, an army of public onlookers and even Japan’s well-equipped coastguard. But until his recapture last month and subsequent thorough medical check-up, keepers did not even know what gender the plucky escapee was, and had insisted he did not have a name. Now officials at Tokyo Sea Life Park have launched a competition asking visitors to think of what the bird should be called. “We decided to give him a pet name by soliciting ideas and their reasons from visitors,” said aquarium official Takashi Sugino. “This is a special treatment to express our gratitude to the public for providing information on the bird, and also for cooperating with us by listening to our call not to try to capture him,” he said.

 Visitors are being asked to watch the creature — now safely back in his enclosure — before putting their suggestion in a box, Sugino said, admitting the aquarium was expecting a spike in numbers. Nominations opened on June 15 and will end on July 1, said Sugino, adding “a naming committee comprising the aquarium director, the vice director and keepers will pick the most appropriate name.”

Jubilee The Penguin

With the Royal family and all of England getting ready for the festivities this weekend the Penguin Post has learned that a five-week-old penguin chick has waddled his way into the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.  Jubilee the penguin got in on the act after keepers at a wildlife park named him in honor of the Queen’s 60-year reign. The Humboldt penguin was the first chick of his kind to be born at Blair Drummond Safari Park in Stirlingshire for 12 years. He weighs just 23oz (650g) and stands 9in (23cm) tall – but seemed keen to show off his enthusiasm for the celebrations as he posed in front of a United Kingdom flag. He made a brief appearance from his nest to be weighed by keepers as first-time parents Billy and Sunny looked on warily. Both parents had been incubating the egg from when it was laid on March 13 until it hatched on April 28. They will rear the chick until it fledges in about three months. Jubilee will stay with his parents and the other four Humboldt penguins at the park. Park manager Gary Gilmour said: “The keepers have been keeping a very close eye on Jubilee and have been weighing the chick every day, to ensure acceptable weight gain. “Penguin chicks usually put on 10% of their body weight every day, so it was vital we know what Jubilee’s daily weight was.”

Plucky Penguin Picks Up Pinkeye

The Penguin Post has learned that the plucky Penguin 337 that was recaptured last week after nearly three months on the lam in the polluted waters of Tokyo Bay has pinkeye, an aquarium official said Monday. The Humboldt penguin, one of 135 kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park, was taken back into captivity after 82 days of freedom following a breakout that made global headlines and garnered it a following around the world. On Friday, the day after its adventure came to an end, the bird “was diagnosed by a veterinarian as having conjunctivitis (pinkeye), so we have kept it in a room separate from the rest of our penguins,” said aquarium official Takashi Sugino. Fans of the 1-year-old runaway — known by the aquarium only as Penguin No. 337 and lacking any sexual features due to its age — will have to wait until it has recovered from the condition, before it is back in public view. “At first its eyes seemed to be swelling a bit, but now it’s recuperating, as we’ve been giving it eyedrops every day,” Sugino said. “I don’t know the exact reason for its eye disease, but in this aquarium the seawater pumped up for penguins is filtered and disinfected,” he added. A government official said the water quality in Tokyo Bay has improved in recent years, but pollution by organic substances sometimes breaches environmental thresholds.

Penguin 337 Last Moments Of Freedom

The Penguin Post has learned that Penguin 337 on the run from a Tokyo aquarium since early March was adjusting to life back on the inside Friday after being recaptured on a riverbank. The Humboldt penguin, one of 135 kept at Tokyo Sea Life Park, was recaptured after 82 days of freedom that had even seen it outwit Japan’s well-resourced coastguard. The bird’s last moments of liberty were lived on a riverbank just five miles from its home, said aquarium spokesman Takashi Sugino. Prompted by a stream of sighting reports, staff rushed to the Edo-gawa river, where the young bird was idling away a balmy Thursday afternoon, seemingly unaware that its adventure was coming to an end. As its captors approached, the penguin dived into the water and emerged onto the opposite river bank about an hour later. Undeterred, the determined aquarium staff tried again, this time approaching the startled bird slowly — taking some 20 minutes to close in the final 16 feet — before jumping on it. The one-year-old bird, known only as Penguin No. 337 as it is not yet old enough to display physical sexual features, rushed into the water in surprise, but was subdued and taken back into custody. “It was captured safely,” the aquarium said in a statement. “It does not appear to have any injury and it seems to be in good health.” The penguin is now undergoing through medical checks and will be quarantined for possible infections before rejoining the rest of the flock, Sugino said. More than 30 sightings of the two-foot penguin had been reported to Tokyo Sea Life Park since it fled. The bird had been spotted swimming in various locations around Tokyo Bay but was difficult to catch. Even Japan’s coastguard were caught flat-footed by the escapee. On May 7, two boats with 10 officers on board followed the bird for about an hour before it disappeared from view. The hunt for the bird, which the aquarium said did not have a name, began in early March after it was spotted bathing in a river that runs into Tokyo Bay. Keepers believe the penguin made its break for freedom after being startled into climbing over a rock twice its size. In a bid to curtail any future breakouts, the facility has now put additional rocks and sandbags around the edges of the penguin enclosure.

This picture released by Tokyo Sea Life Park shows a rescued penguin This picture shows Penguin 337 shortly after it was recaptured on Thursday.

Fugitive Penguin 337 Captured

This just in to the Penguin Post.  The one-year-old Humboldt penguin known to the world as Penguin 337 that has captivated the worlds imagination after improbably escaping from Tokyo Sea Life Park in early March, and has outwitted the Japanese coastguard and other search parties ever since, has been recaptured after 82 days on the run (waddle).  The awol 2ft-tall juvenile Humboldt, which was one of 135 penguins who reside at the park, was re-captured by an aquarium employee patrolling a stretch of the Edogawa River in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. The yet unnamed zoo official spotted the penguin, which was not in the water at the time, and caught it by hand at around 5:30 p.m.  The capture was about five miles from Tokyo Sea Life Park. “We’re relieved to see the penguin come back alive,” said Kazuhiro Sakamoto, the vice head of the aquarium. “It apparently had no health problems.”  There had been more than 30 sightings of Penguin Number 337  reported to the zoo since it escaped, and all the sightings had been local so officials knew it was still in the area of Tokyo Bay, but it had proved to be an elusive little fugitive.  That is until now. It may be a little early in this developing story, but it seems to us that this penguin may have surrendered rather than was captured.  More details as they become available.

Penguin On The Run No More

Penguin Chicks On The Move

The Penguin Post have obtained these images from the U.K., taken yesterday of the last Penguin chick (aged 11 days) due to leave the Isle of Wight this evening to join the other hatchlings at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, England. Sixteen chicks were bred at Seaview Wildlife Encounter on the Isles of Wight this spring especially for the new Humboldt Penguin exhibit at Longleat – due to open later this year. The chicks will be hand-reared over the next 12-14 weeks at which time they’ll be fully grown and ready to feed independently.  Seaview Director, Lorraine Adams, said: “It is a pleasure to have been selected to breed and supply our Humboldt Penguin chicks to such a prestigious and well-known Safari Park”.