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!
I'd love to hear your favorite penguin exhibits!
These are gorgeous photos, Penguins are one of my favourites too xx
ReplyDeleteAww I love the sound of the new penguin house - seems like the little cuties will be really cosy in there!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to get to The Deep soon to see the new little guys!
omg how adorable are these penguins!! i love penguins too, you photos are fab! i'd love it if youd check out my blog and comment back http://amyelizabethfashion.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/body-shop-coconut-haul.html xx
ReplyDeletePenguins are a family favorite! They are my dads absolute favorite there is! Great pics! I love the zoo
ReplyDeleteI love penguins. I have a book which has a little quote which says "noone can ever be angry whilst looking at a penguin" :-) Great quality photos! Jenna x
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That is so true!
Deletehow freaking cute! x
ReplyDeleteAww penguins! They are so cute! I love the photos. Emperor penguins (least I hope that's what they are) always remind me of Happy Feet. x
ReplyDeleteThose big ones are King penguins, but I get what you mean!
DeleteYay the penguin post. They are so beautiful. I love King penguins - they are just awesome looking. It's been a while since I've been to Edinburgh Zoo but their little penguin parade is one of the cutest things ever!
ReplyDeleteDebi x
I love the space they have at Edinburgh zoo (although I haven't been since they changed it up) - although the pengys have never felt the need for a walk in the parade the three times i've been!
DeleteGorgeous! I especially like the guys in the last photo with the tufty hair :D
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to a zoo for ages and ages! My favourites are giraffes and I love Colchester Zoo in Essex cos you can feed them :)
x
You can feed them at the Detroit zoo too but never got around it to, giraffes are just awesome looking creatures too.
DeleteI like penguins but I do not like the current penguin house at the Detroit Zoo. It is too dark for my liking and it seems like they do not do a decent job of cleaning the windows.
ReplyDeleteWell the lighting also reflects like I mentioned their natural habitat - it's the same sort of enclosure they have at the Pittsburgh zoo and maintain that normality as much as you can with the lighting is key. I guess it's hard to properly clean when it's all surrounded by a water zoo - I don't think it's a Detroit zoo thing, you can see it with many exhbits in different zoos in and out of the US.
DeletePENGUINS! I have only seen them twice in my life and I loved it. Penguins, especially emperor penguins are my favourite animal, I'll settle for the king penguins here though ;) Polar bears run a good 2nd place and then giraffes :)
ReplyDeleteI love the first picture! But you're right, it's so annoying when the glass is all dirty!! Grrr. I want to take nice pictures dammit :)
We saw them in Berlin and they had an amazing enclosure with snow and everything. Stupid dirty glass but it was still amazing.
~ K
Giraffes are getting a lot of love - i'll have to try grab some photos of those next! I love this idea of the snow with the pengys, I bet they find it pretty awesome!
Deleteaaww so cute. but it looks like they are behind a glas wall? that always looks also a bit sad
ReplyDeleteHi - like I mentioned in the post they are kept within a building behind glass - a lot of American zoo's seem to have it this way for whatever reason.
DeleteAww seeing these penguins has just brightened up my day :) x
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! They are adorable. When you said you liked penguins, I didn't realize it was an obsession!! I love it though, they are funny creatures!
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