Penguins and the Zoo - at another zoo

Some time back I had written on this blog about the penguins at Mumbai zoo - "The Penguins and the Zoo". A while after posting it I had the opportunity to visit the zoo at London which also has a penguin enclosure with the same kind of penguins that the Mumbai zoo has. Yes it’s the Humboldt penguins and they are held in an area called "Penguin Beach" within the zoo premises.

I was awestruck by the size of this exhibit as compared to the one in amchi Mumbai. For starters the Penguins were out in the open. There were no closed enclosures or air conditioned viewing galleries.

Here is some information on this exhibit: There is a 1200 square meter (Almost 12500 square feet) pool holding 450, 000 liters of water. Yup that's just the size of the pool they swim in. There is a breeding facility for these humboldt penguins with a nursery, an incubation unit and pool where the young ones learn to swim. How about that. You don't have to worry about importing new ones in case the current population goes down for whatsoever reason. Apart from viewing them along with the general public you can also have a one on one session with these guys and learn more about them, of course for a small fee.

The viewing is open with a stadium like mini sitting area on one side where visitors can sit and watch the creatures. There are two feeding sessions every day with a live commentary providing you with all information about these penguins.

Here are some photographs for you.

 An overview

A Port hole to watch the little guys swimming

That's how close you can get with just a glass partition in between.

All Photos were shot in the afternoon with the outside temperature at 20 degrees Celsius. 

Cheers.