BBC Scotland are reporting that the bulk of the penguin collection are being relocated to zoos in N. Ireland, England and Denmark for around three months while essential maintenance work is being carried out on the main penguin pool. On another note, the zoo's Facebook page says that the newly arrived meerkats are currently on show beside the marbled polecats, but this is just a temporary home while they are in quarantine. No word on where they'll eventually end up - perhaps reclaiming their old enclosure from the sousliks?
Statement from the zoo regarding the penguin enclosure: EDINBURGH ZOO'S PENGUIN ENCLOSURE TO UNDERGO ESSENTIAL MAINTENANCE Edinburgh Zoo’s penguin enclosure will be the focus of an intensive maintenance and upgrade programme over the next few months. Hugh Roberts, Chief Executive of RZSS, the charity which owns and manages Edinburgh Zoo, explained: “Our popular outdoor penguin enclosure has been an iconic aspect of Edinburgh Zoo for many years. The existing pool has served our large colony of Kings, Gentoos and Rockhoppers extremely well for 20 years, and to ensure it continues to do so in the future, we need to carry out maintenance work. “The first stage will involve allowing the outdoor penguin pool to drain naturally, which will take around five weeks. We are losing water from the pool every day, which is totally harmless, but costly for us as a conservation charity. The natural draining method will allow us to identify where exactly the water is coming from and will facilitate an accurate assessment by specialist engineers. We aim to have the pool upgraded and ready again for this summer.” The necessary work will mean that the penguin colony will need to be split up for a short time, which will commence Friday 2nd March. The relocation process will take up to two weeks, with some penguins remaining at Edinburgh Zoo (a third) and others being re-homed in other Zoos. Edinburgh Zoo will retain 12 pairs of Gentoos penguins which were carefully selected after genetic analysis. Established pairs of penguins are also being kept together. 50 are being split between Zoos in Belfast and Odense in Denmark, and will return after the work is complete. The other 50 Gentoo birds are leaving the collection as part of the normal cycle of breeding and distribution to other zoos. The 24 Gentoos staying will move to Barbary Rock where Edinburgh Zoo’s rock hyraxes are currently housed. The rock hyraxes are being temporarily housed in the Monkey House. The Rockhopper penguins will all remain at Edinburgh Zoo, including 12 new birds that recently arrived from Vienna Zoo. They will move into the sea duck enclosure by the big cat walkway, an area used for penguin quarantine and which was once the Rockhopper penguin enclosure – so they are heading back to familiar territory within the Zoo. Ultimately they will be housed in the sea lion enclosure at the main entrance to Edinburgh Zoo. Edinburgh Zoo’s six King Penguins, including Sir Nils Olav, will travel to a new temporary home at Birdland in Gloucestershire. Birdland are also experts in managing Kings, hence the Zoo approaching them to provide a short-term home. All six King penguins will return to Edinburgh Zoo and we hope to source new female Kings at the same time too – great news for the breeding programme. Colin Oulton, Bird Team Leader at Edinburgh Zoo, said: “We have considered the impact of this work upon our visitors, and although there will be no penguin parade, there will still be a daily penguin talk. There will never be a perfect time to carry out the upgrade, however we have carefully deliberated timings. Our decision to commence work now is based upon there being a window before breeding season begins in a few weeks’ time and its always preferable to move penguins in cooler months. “Our penguins are all going to Zoos with dedicated facilities and it goes without saying that they will be extremely well cared for. We look forward to completing work on our outdoor penguin pool and to the summer when our colony is back together again.” Hugh Roberts continues: “On a more humorous note, it is only fair after the interest our giant pandas have received recently that we lavish some attention on our penguins, as they are synonymous with Edinburgh Zoo and one of our most popular attractions. After the maintenance programme has been undertaken, next year we will then aesthetically upgrade the penguin pool, enhancing the layout, painting the enclosure and making it as immersive as possible.”
Here is the information about Sir Nils Olav... Sir Nils Olav As it says he is a mascot in the Norway Guards... and each time they play at the Edinburgh Tattoo they visit him... each time increasing his status in the ranks. Last time he was given knighhood... There is a statue of him near the penguin enclosure... but those with a keen eye will see that the statue's band on his flipper is at the wrong side..lol
I wonder how many Sir Nils Olav there have been over the years ? Sad to see that there are now only 6 king penguine left in the edinburgh collection .
Randomly came across this piece in the sun online on Yabbra the Koala getting his exercise: Koala news: Yabbra runs around halls at Edinburgh Zoo | The Sun |News Nothing new in it though I don't think
Oh and if anyone is going to the zoo shortly and gets a chance to speak to a penguin keeper can they ask why they are keeping 12 specially selected pairs of gentoos please? Im just wondering if maybe they're going to use this move as a chance to swap some stock with the other zoos involved-otherwise surely it wouldn't matter which pairs they kept if they're all coming back? Would be excellent if they managed to source some more female Kings, just need to keep fingers crossed the current kings survive the temporary change-certainly not the easiest species to successfully transport! Best of luck to all involved.
Fascinating- I knew nothing of this. I particularly liked the photo of him 'Inspecting the Guard' -he really does look like he's doing so. So how long do Kings live? If its the same bird throughout he would have to be well over Forty years old now- is that realistic?
I suspect they are the most important breeding pairs - it makes sense to want to minimise disturbance to those birds if possible.
Its stated on the website that these 12 penguin will be choosen from genetic analysis... so as previously stated i think this means the most important breeding pair. Also stated on the press release is that they hope to source a new female king penguin soon. Here is the info... Edinburgh Zoo’s Penguin Enclosure to Undergo Essential Maintenance
Yeah I understand they will be the most important breeding pairs from the article, and it makes sense that it is to limit disturbance to them (although the article is keen to point out this has been planned to happen before the breeding season to minimise disturbance to that anyway) but I would still be interested to know if they are hoping to make use of an opportunity to swap stock. Like if their gentoos happen to pair up with one from the zoo that's temporarily caring for them (as pairing up will be starting from nowish), it would make sense to me to let that pairing continue rather than split them up just before they breed and use it as an opportunity to swap genetic lines etc. I know this is mostly up to the recommendations of the studbook keeper, I'm basically just feeling a bit nosy, but can't get to the zoo for a while to find out for myself.
I'm pretty sure the current Nils is the third since 1972, with each new bird inheriting the name and current rank. On another note, I see the pandas had their 100,000th visitor today!
I'm surprised that the "aesthetic upgrade" isn't happening while the penguins are temporarily absent from the enclosure. It would seem the perfect time to do it.
If I recall correctly, the current Nils is the offspring of the second Nils, who was unrelated to the first.
