Gentoo Penguins

A couple of Gentoo Penguins seen indoors at the Penguin Plunge at the Calgary Zoo, on 4 October 2012.

The Zoo has four species of Penguin in their Penguin Plunge exhibit - Gentoo (23), King (8), Humboldt (10) and Rockhopper (5). They are part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums penguin species survival plan.

The 46 penguins came from zoos in Quebec, Texas, New York and Washington states and Scotland. There are 8 King Penguins, 23 Gentoo Penguins, 10 Humboldt Penguins and 5 Rockhopper Penguins. The IUCN Red List states:

King Penguins - Least Concern
Humboldt Penguins - Vulnerable
Gentoo Penguins - Near Threatened
Rockhopper Penguins - Vulnerable

Current Impacts on the Gentoo population include climate variation, competition with fisheries, human disturbance, pollution.

Gentoos can hold their breath underwater for up to seven minutes. They usually search for food within 14 kilometres of home, but may travel up to twice that distance in a day.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentoo_Penguin

Does anyone else know the PINGU series of animated short videos? One of my favourite TV shows (though I don't know if it is on at the moment). This is a link to just one of the many, many episodes.

youtu.be/2tkYQHGm_uw