Photo credit RZSS
19 Zoo-per additions
at Penguins Rock
Penguins Rock at
RZSS Edinburgh Zoo is now home to 19 gentoo chicks and one northern rockhopper
chick as breeding season comes to a close. These once tiny chicks are now
growing into adorably fluffy youngsters.
Penguin breeding
season began in early March, with the annual placing of the nest rings and
pebbles into Penguins Rock, before the male penguins sought out the best
looking and smoothest pebbles to ‘propose’ to their potential mates. The first
gentoo chicks hatched on 7 May and a special arrival of a northern rockhopper
chick on 25 April was just in time for World Penguin Day.
Dawn Nicoll, Penguin
Keeper at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo, said: “This is our favourite time of year as the
new penguin chicks are moved into the crèche. The entire breeding season is an
incredibly busy time, but it is all worth it when you see them grow and learn
all the skills essential to being a penguin, such as how to swim and feed.
“We had a very
successful breeding season and are really pleased to have had 19 chicks,
particularly as gentoo penguins are classified as near threatened in the wild.
It’s really nice to see all 20 of our chicks learning the ropes together as the
gentoos join our northern rockhopper chick in the crèche area of Penguins
Rock.”
Due to the decline
in their populations, gentoo penguins are listed as near threatened on the IUCN
Red List. Reasons for their decline include increased illegal egg collection
and oil exploration around the Falkland Islands, as well as disturbance from tourism
which is leading to decreased breeding productivity.
Penguins have been
an integral part of RZSS Edinburgh Zoo for over 100 years and the Zoo has the
largest outdoor penguin pool in Europe. They were one of the first species that
arrived and the Zoo and the Society became world-renowned when they were the first
outside the southern hemisphere to breed king penguins.
The world-famous
daily Penguin Parade began in 1951 when a keeper accidentally left the gate
open and the penguins went for a short walk and then returned to their
enclosure – keepers still open the gate every day at 2.15pm and birds who
voluntarily want to take part go for a short walk outside their enclosure.
For all the latest
from Penguins Rock, visit our dedicated penguin webcam: http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/penguin-cam/
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant        |
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