A COLLABORATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PENGUINS

 

A COLLABORATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PENGUINS

 

Since last summer, the Paris Zoological Park has been participating in a scientific project on Humboldt penguins , in partnership with the Hubert Curien Pluridisciplinary Institute (IPHC) of the CNRS and the University of Strasbourg, and the Polar Department of the Scientific Center of Monaco.

 

This multidisciplinary project makes it possible to refine the techniques and perfect the procedures before going to apply them in the natural environment, in Antarctica, with the constant concern to develop new study methods making it possible to reduce or even eliminate any disturbance on the animals due to the study itself . Beyond this help, which allows to significantly shorten the development phases before going to apply them in extreme environments, it also turns out that studying our penguins makes it possible to answer certain targeted questions for which it is impossible to respond in a natural environment (lack of history on individuals, disappearances during studies, etc.)

 

A ROBOT AMONG PENGUINS

As already done in the natural environment by CNRS research teams, the approach of animals by a rolling robot makes it possible to have a reduced impact on the behavior of the colony .

 

At the Zoological Park, the project started its second study phase in January with the work of a Master 2 student for a period of 6 months, who will take care of this rolling robot “Rover”, but not only.

 

If this new step will allow the robot to try out different appearances in order to find the one that will allow you to go unnoticed within the colony , it will also be accompanied by other technological innovations, in particular for remote cardiac monitoring. animals without having to capture or stress them.

 

In addition, an automatic weighing platform will be set up. It will make it possible to obtain, record and transmit the weights of the penguins which will pass voluntarily over them. This information will provide the animal team with precise and constant monitoring of a very good health indicator, the weight of individuals, thanks to this autonomous system.

 

The animals will be identified automatically by two means: their chip and a camera linked to visual recognition software . Developed by the Scientific Center of Monaco, this technology, which uses powerful artificial intelligence algorithms, will thus be at the service of the health of our animals, while it will allow in Antarctica to better understand variations in weight over time. the life cycle of these extreme birds. Our visitors will be able to see this technology at work… and modestly keep the weight of our penguins to themselves!

 

Original Paper https://www.parczoologiquedeparis.fr/fr/actualites/collaboration-avec-le-cnrs-et-le-centre-scientifique-de-monaco-une-nouvelle-etape-pour-nos-manchots-3449

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Penguin Cannibal

Penguin Cannibalism

Since 1968 I have had varying degrees of responsibility for a variety of Penguins. Birds have disappeared, not many I'll grant you, but a few have gone without a trace. A fox has nearly always been the suspected culprit.
Chicks have gone too. Much easier to explain. A rat, a crow, a seagull, a stoat....but a cannibal penguin?
I'd be lying if I said the thought has not passed fleetingly through my head, but I never entertained the idea seriously. I never met anyone who suggested this was a real possibility. I have never read of it happening either in the wild or in captivity.
Here though we have video footage of this actually taking place. How common it is we probably will never know without extensive research.

Check out

THE ZOO HUBS

Tragic News For The Northern Rockhopper Penguin

Rare Penguins Covered By Oil After Ship Runs Aground

Tiny Northern Rockhopper penguins, found only on a remote island-chain in near Antarctica, were soaked in oil after an off-course ship ran aground and split in two. Only 19,500 Rockhopper breeding pairs were found on Nightingale Island (where the ship sank) in a 2005 census.

Rockhoppers were put on the international “endangered” list in 2008 after scientists noted an alarming a decline in population.

According to the IUCN Red List, the official body that determines the status of species, “Precise reasons for the declines are poorly known, but changes in sea temperature, competition and incidental capture in fisheries and introduced predators are all likely to be implicated.”

Dr. David Guggenheim (a.k.a., The Ocean Doctor) is a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation. He was part of an expedition traveling between the tip of South America and the tip of South Africa, when he received word that the Greek Freighter, MS Oliva, was off-course and had run aground in the Tristan da Cunha Islands . The research vessel the Prince Albert II headed to the crippled vessel, where they rescued 11 crew-members and the ship’s captain under high swells and winds blowing up to 40-knots.

Guggenheim blogged about the incident, saying:

A large oil slick from the ruptured fuel tanks of the Oliva covered the northwestern portion of [Nightingale Island] yesterday afternoon. The ship is carrying more than 300,000 gallons of heavy marine oil and 15,000 gallons of diesel oil. We received word this morning that the MV Oliva broke in half overnight and that oil is now engulfing Nightingale Island and officials are gravely concerned about wildlife impacts.

Last Friday, Guggenheim reported that the oil slick had completely surrounded the island. Worse, half of the pengu

Read more HERE

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Zoo keepers hand-rear tiny penguin chicks

Christmas came early for the bird keepers at Bristol Zoo Gardens after the hatching for three tiny penguin chicks.








The African penguin chicks are being hand-reared by keepers at the Zoo who have given them a surrogate mum, a penguin soft toy, to cuddle up to for warmth and comfort.







The youngsters are between two and four weeks old and need to be fed four times a day with small pieces of fish and fish formula packed with extra vitamins. The youngsters will even go home with their keeper on Christmas day so they can continue to be fed throughout the day.







Bristol Zoo’s curator of birds, Nigel Simpson, said: “The chicks like to have something to sleep next to and this penguin soft toy replicates the natural feeling on their mother. A fleece or feather duster also works well.”







Nigel added: “Caring for four penguin chicks is quite demanding, which is why a keeper will take them home for Christmas so they can continue to be fed at regular intervals.”







The chicks can be seen in the Zoo’s specialist incubation room where they will live until they are able to feed themselves at six to eight-weeks-old. They will then be moved into a ‘crèche’ area within the Zoo’s penguin enclosure. There they will learn to swim and fend for themselves before joining the adult penguin group.







The chicks have been reared from eggs as part of a study into the optimum incubation conditions for penguin eggs. This is part of Bristol Zoo’s conservation project to help save endangered African penguins from extinction, as Nigel Simpson explains: “We are leading a chick bolstering project in South Africa where penguin numbers are in sharp decline. In future we may need to call on Zoos to send penguin eggs to South Africa to bolster wild populations on the brink of extinction.







“It is therefore vital that we know exactly how to best care for the penguin eggs during the delicate translocation from England to South Africa, to give the chicks the best chance of growing into healthy adults that are able to help re-populate diminishing penguin numbers in the wild.”







The chick bolstering project, nicknamed Project Penguin, is being run by Bristol Zoo Gardens in partnership with SANCCOB, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Robben Island Museum, the University of Cape Town’s Animal Demography Unit, CapeNature and Marine and Coastal Management (an arm of the South African government).







African penguin numbers are in rapid decline with an estimated 50 per cent decrease in the population over the past four years. The birds are currently listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN red list, but will soon be upgraded to ‘Endangered’.



The major threat to the survival of the species is thought be a lack of food due to over fishing and movement of fish stocks away from the remaining nesting beaches due to factors including global warming.







For more information about Bristol Zoo Gardens’ African penguins, or for adoption details, visit the website http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/  or phone 0117 974 7300.