Wanderer
Well-Known Member
Are they wild-caught? I always wondered about the legality and feasibility of importing Antarctic penguins, since the Antarctic is so remote and has a special status under international law.
Catalogue of Penguins in Captivity Worldwide
- Thread starter Chlidonias
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Are they wild-caught? I always wondered about the legality and feasibility of importing Antarctic penguins, since the Antarctic is so remote and has a special status under international law.
Sphenisciologist
Well-Known Member
Not 100% sure and I don’t have sources to confirm but they probably got them from Japan. They got their gentoos from Australia a few years back (maybe New Zealand) so they probably imported their kings (forgot to mention Phu Quoc also keeps this species which hasn’t been mentioned yet) and Adélies from other facilities as well, and yeah getting penguins from Antarctica is a long shot for most places I believe.
Changsha Haichang Xiangjiang Happy Ocean Park also have emperor penguins.
As far as I know, Adelie Penguins are decreasing poplutaion in Japan, and there is no facility that can export them... Maybe they got it from another country?
Sphenisciologist
Well-Known Member
Interesting, I was under the impression their population in Japan was decent and I thought that Wakayama and Nagoya had large enough populations for transport. The Japan comment was pure speculation going based off of the fact they’ve exported Adélies to other countries before, and they do engage in animal exchanges.
If it were a different country, my other guess is Taiwan. NMMBA has a large colony and a successful breeding program. Also interestingly enough a few years back the facility auctioned 36 of their birds; 24 gentoos, 6 chinstraps, and 6 Adélies were for sale only to organizations that were qualified to care for them. (Penguins for sale in Taiwan | Taiwan News | Oct. 10, 2022 17:04). Obviously this isn’t confirming, but it does show that NMMBA has/had willingness to send their birds away to other countries, which could’ve included Phu Quoc.
Overall these penguins origins seem to be a mystery. There isn’t a whole lot of publicity on them and the only mentions of the animals outside of ZooChat are on Zootierliste and a few tourist review sites. Hopefully something comes up because I’m curious about these birds!
Both Adventure World and Nagoya have this species, but there are probably no exports in the past few years, according to my close friends who go to both places often.
Taiwan seems to be a possibility.