Waddling With Penguins
New Denver Zoo Habitat Replicates Rocky Beaches Of Africa
Story and photos by Reid Neureiter
For the GPHN
The Denver Zoo provided their colony of 17 endangered African penguins with a new home in October: a 10,000-gallon pool surrounded by heated rockwork.
The new habitat is just to the left of the main Zoo entrance off 23rd Avenue in City Park just west of Park Hill. It is intended to replicate the rocky beaches of western South Africa and Namibia, where this penguin species is struggling for survival. Wild African penguin populations have declined more than 98 percent over the past 100 years, from more than a million breeding pairs to just 25,000 pairs. Commercial fishing, pollution, and climate change have led to declines in anchovy stocks, contributing to the penguins’ own decline.
The Denver Zoo is a participant in the Species Survival Plan for the African penguin. The program facilitates collaboration among zoos around the world, with the goal of ensuring healthy genetic diversity in zoo animals under human care and the breeding of assurance populations to bolster species for whom wild populations are in decline.
This waddle of comical tuxedo-clad birds was photographed on Dec. 10, which also marked Denver’s first day of measurable snow this winter. Although the flightless aquatic birds declined to dive into their inviting new swimming pool, they did parade back and forth, stopping occasionally to scratch their plumage.
Here’s a romantic detail: African penguins mate for life, and at the zoo have color-coded plastic tags on their stubby flippers. The couples are given matching tag colors to help identify the lovebirds.