ZOO TIMES: Penguins

Penguins have to be one of my favorite creatures (although they do battle with Kolas to be that high on the list) I love their grace in the water, how they waddle to their mating and nest building rituals. But at zoos in the US they are a bugger to photograph. Out of the three zoo's that we've visited that have had penguins - two of them have had them indoors (Detroit and Pittsburgh - just to note the Toledo Zoo does have them outside), often because winter gets too cold and summer gets too hot. Sadly that means they get housed behind glass which gets steamed up and messy from water although it's a great way for the keepers to maintain a constant 45 to 50F environment - which is key for the Sub Antarctic penguin species that you'll find at the Detroit Zoo - the King, Macaroni and the Rockhopper.

The penguins of the Detroit Zoo are housed within the Penguianrium which, when opened in 1968, was North America's first facility specially designed for penguins. The three sided enclosure is surrounded by a pool which allows the birds to swim all the way round. They even control and adjust the lighting to reflect the seasons they would experience in the wild which is key for maintaining their health, breeding and molting seasons - as you can just see in these pictures, molting season is upon the King penguins - their feathers are everywhere and we were luckily enough on our trip on Saturday to watch them being fed - it was very amusing. 

Luckily the penguins are set to get a new home with work set to commence this month on a new $21 million home which is designed to have a 25 foot deep pool, waves and snow - as a zoo member and a penguin lover - I'm really excited about this and I can't wait to see it all built and opened. I've loved seeing the online clips of the recently opened penguin exhibit at The Deep in Hull for some Gentoo Penguins (which I often visited as a teen being on the doorstep and all) so if you're in the area do check it out!

I'd love to hear your favorite penguin exhibits!