@nczoofan yes, and it's terrible. It's cramped with three animals, I have no idea how they thought it would be ethical to cram the ten they had into there. It really is an embarrassment that the AZA should not tolerate.
Looks a lot like those traveling temporary penguin exhibits that were a fad in Americans zoos during during the early 2010s. Why they thought this was adequate I have no clue, especially when they could have built a much larger outdoor exhibit with the space they had to work with. The Tampa area collections have really been dropping the ball hard with new exhibits lately.
@pachyderm I 100% agree on all accounts. And it's sad, this area has seen tremendous growth in population over the last 15 years, the zoo and aquarium are just not keeping up with the quality of new habitats being built at just about every other institution in the country.
For this exhibit to be new, permanent and in an AZA-accredited facility boggles my mind. These 'rent-a-penguin' enclosures, about the size of a large bathroom in somebody's house, would probably never be seen in any of the thousands of zoos in Western Europe. Even in a nation like Germany, with its 500 zoos, aquariums and wildparks, I cannot imagine that any penguins live like this. Even if this was one of the seasonal temporary exhibits that used to pop up in American zoos, it would still be atrocious. The fact that it's a permanent structure in what is otherwise a very good aquarium is unexpected.
@DelacoursLangur they had 10 individuals off exhibit, but seven unexpectedly died for unknown reasons. It was a really bizarre incident and officials still don’t know what happened. This exhibit just opened and currently only holds the three surviving birds.
All of these comments are 100% correct. This institution has always been a top level facility, the rest of the exhibits and habitats are fantastic - but this? This is a travesty. What they were thinking I have no idea. Why they had 10 penguins BTS all these years I have no idea. We are in Florida, and a decent outside exhibit would have been a minimal cost. I am seriously considering contacting the AZA about this, I know they are probably aware about it, but they need to know that the public is noticing.
Just to update this, I did end up contacting the AZA and the AZA and the Aquarium got back to me. All parties were kind and understanding, and helpful. As it is now public knowledge, this is intended as a temporary habitat, not permanent. It will be replaced with a much larger outside habitat where the splash pad is right now along with new habitats for California sea lions.
