Video: A penguin colony on the edge

In this video, Tanya Datta from BBC interviews penguin researcher, Mike Bingham, who has studied penguins for 20 years.

Watch video

A penguin afraid of water?

WHILE his feathered friends dive happily through the icy depths, poor Kentucky the penguin perches hopelessly on his favorite rock.

Why? Because he’s afraid of WATER.

He refuses to take the plunge with his other 23 penguin pals at Blackbrook Zoological Park, in Leek, Staffs.

Staff at the zoo have seen 11-year-old Kentucky become a surprise hit with visitors at the park due to his unusual phobia.

Photo: News Team International

Source: Sun

Underwater

A Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) dives in his pool at the zoo in Nuremberg, southern Germany, on December 10, 2008.

AFP/Getty Images

Video: Not all penguins are the same

There's an interesting video posted at PenguinScience -

Blondie shows that not all penguins are the same:

Here's a very unusual black penguin:


A rare albino chick:


And here's poor Blondie.
He's had a nest every year but can't seem to find a mate.

Penguin Awareness Day

January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day.

Why is today Penguin Awareness day? No one knows.

What's so special about this day? No one knows.

So - celebrate in your own way ...

from Flickr, by ekpatterson

from Flickr, by moria

from Flickr, by rarewren

Penguins get cataracts?

Ajani doesn't just have happy feet, he has happy eyes now, too.

That's because the 14-week-old African black-footed penguin, blind since birth due to cataracts, was able to see for the first time Thursday.

Nicole MacLaren, a veterinary ophthalmologist at Eye Care for Animals in Salt Lake City, performed successful bilateral cataract surgery on the penguin, a resident of the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls.

Source: Deseret News

Disappearing Rockhoppers

The number of northern rockhopper penguins on the South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Islands is believed to have fallen by 90 per cent in the last 130 years.

An estimated two million of the endangered species have vanished in the last half century, according to reports, but the cause for their rapid decline remains a mystery.

More than 80 per cent of the world's northern rockhopper penguin population live on the two islands and the dramatic fall in numbers has caused concern.

The declines on Gough since the 1950s are equivalent to losing 100 birds a day for the last 50 years.

Photo: ABBIE TRAYLER-SMITH

Meet Pickles

A penguin chick hand-reared by zoo keepers after a family squabble has been named Pickles.

Keepers at Living Coasts in Torquay took in the African penguin chick when it became clear it wasn’t getting as much food as its older sibling. The chick lived the highlife for nearly 4 months, nestling indoors in a cosy den with a cuddly penguin toy for company. It returned to Penguin Beach once it was big enough to take care of itself.

Living Coasts senior head keeper Tony Durkin said: “Pickles has settled back into the colony with no problem at all."

Source

Weighing in

Penguin Sigrid stands on the scales during the annual inventory at the zoo in Hanover, western Germany, on January 12, 2009. During the last weeks, all 1,705 animals living at the zoo were weighed and measured.

AFP/Getty Images

Meeting with a Prince

Prince Albert of Monaco watches a penguin in the Antarctic continent in this photo taken January 7, 2009. Prince Albert is in the Antarctic as part of a scientific expedition. Picture taken January 7, 2009.

Photo: REUTERS/Jean-Christophe Dimino/

Is there anything cuter?

This little cutie was born on Dec. 12 at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.

Penguins coming to TV

The penguins from the movie Madagascar will have their own TV show on Nickelodeon.

While you're waiting for the show to air in March of 2009, you can check out the penguin feature fun pages on the Nick website right now.

Play penguin games, watch penguin video clips and talk to other penguin fans on the message boards.

(via Nothing but Penguins)

Penguin Buddy Bag

This fully lined Penguin Buddy Bag by Stephen Joseph is made of machine washable soft terry material (100% polyester) and features a zippered opening on the top and an inner zipper pocket. Unzip the top to store all of your tots travel essentials. Also great for storing video games or pens, crayons and paper for those long car rides.

$18.99 at Peanut Gallery Gifts

New Park In Argentina Protects Penguins

The Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society's efforts to protect a wildlife-rich coastal region in South America have paid off in the form of a new coastal marine park recently signed into law by the Government of Argentina.

The park, which became official in early December protects half a million penguins along with several species of rare seabirds and the region’s only population of South American fur seals. It is the first protected area in Argentina specifically designed to safeguard not only onshore breeding colonies but also areas of ocean where wildlife feed at sea.

Source: Science Daily News

Successful Penguin-Breeding Season at Sea World

Thirty penguin chicks have been born at SeaWorld in San Diego since mid-November, marking this one of the most successful breeding seasons in the park's history, it was announced.

Among the penguin babies are seven macaroni penguins, six gentoo and 17 Adelies, according to SeaWorld.

Since 1980, more than 500 penguin chicks have been born at SeaWorld.

Source: 10news.com

Happy New Year!

Appropriate for the New Year ...

Hatching, originally uploaded by karohemd.

(via Gentoo Penguins at O'Higgins Station, Antarctica)