Bristol Zoo (Closed) Little Blue Penguins at Bristol

Bwassa

Bwassa

Well-Known Member
Just noticed in the gallery a photo of a Little Blue Penguin at Bristol dated Dec 08. Is that just the date the photo was posted or do they still have them at Bristol? We were there in August ( my kid brother lives just down the road), but I didn't see any. Admittedly I wasn't looking, because I thought they didn't have them anymore.:confused:
 
i think that was when it was taken, ive never seen them there either.
 
Suspect that was my picture - if so it was taken 13/12/08 - so yes, they're still there.

The zoo brought in a group a few years ago but due to health problems they were left with just 1 female (I think) bird. They then swapped this bird for 2 spare males from Cologne, and these are the current birds (though I've never spotted more than 1 at a time). They are in Seal and Penguin Coasts in the main aviary (and are labelled).
 
The story of the penguins was shown on The Zoo UK (Sky 3, recently repeated). I think the original group was 8 animals with all succumbing to aspergillosis apart from one.
 
Cologne has bred them, I think, last year, for the first time, but the problem is, they have only one female in the group. There are a few zoos with little blue penguins in the USA, does anybody know if they are breeding in some zoos ? So maybe it would be possible to get offspring from the States for Bristol and Cologne.
 
I would have thought that Australian zoos would be a better source as there are far more there, but I've no idea if any are available or if there are export hurdles to overcome.
 
I think that all but one of the original group succumb to aspergillosis. I think it is the last one! I was there in March but didnt see it. was dissapointed!
 
Well they had at least 1 on my visit at the end of October this year,was swimming up and down the pool first time i had ever seen 1 in the water at Bristol.
 
We were at Bristol in november and during the keeper talk she said there were 2 little blue penguins we could only see one at first but whilst she was feeding the others we were able to see both :) must say that it was my first visit and was really impressed espcially with the penguins and the seals
 
There are a few zoos with little blue penguins in the USA, does anybody know if they are breeding in some zoos ?
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Cincinnati, Omaha, and New England Aquarium are all breeding the blue penguins, as recently as this year. Dallas World Aquarium just imported some this year from Melbourne.
 
A WAZA GSMP (Global Species Management Program) is about to be established for the species, with management of the global population being undertaken from Australia. This will hopefully result in a more coordinated and better managed process for movement and pairing of animals internationally, as well as coordinated exports from Australian zoos.
 
ZooPro said:
A WAZA GSMP (Global Species Management Program) is about to be established for the species, with management of the global population being undertaken from Australia. This will hopefully result in a more coordinated and better managed process for movement and pairing of animals internationally, as well as coordinated exports from Australian zoos.
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Thanx ZooPro,

Seems like a more sensible approach to native and international species management for the little blue methinks! I sincerely hope that the US stocks and the European little blues can be amalgamated into one single breeding stock. The Koeln Zoo really does need several new females to improve the breeding prospects (having bred the species recently ... that is).

Jelle
 
jelle said:
The Koeln Zoo really does need several new females to improve the breeding prospects (having bred the species recently ... that is).

Jelle
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They also need a new enclo0sure by the looks of it, just seen some pics in the gallery. Not good :rolleyes:
 
Possibly managing them with larger and more aggressive species of penguins is not the ideal situation.
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
what makes you say that?
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Well, they may have a good overall reputation with birds but the blue penguins were added after the gentoos left, to a very busy exhibit containing a large breeding group of Jackass penguins. Many zoos opt to make use of their penguin pools by exhibiting combinations of penguin species, but the needs of blue penguins, especially in terms of nesting, may not be best served when accompanied by 60+ Jackass Penguins. And then there is the issue of losing such a high percentage of their original birds.
 
I would concur that blue penguins are best served in a separate exhibit without contact to other penguin species. Any zoo housing them should not keep or maintain other penguins.

I suspect that stress had a lot to do with most penguins at Bristol Zoo dying individually from disease. As for diet ... what is the competition situation like when little blues are kept with other penguins, in particular sphenicids.
 
johnstoni - fair enough, alot of zoos do keep multi species penguin exhibits and they seem to work...
 
It depends what you define as an exhibit 'working'. Some collections manage to keep a mixture of species alive, with good breeding results, but there are many more where it doesn't work at all having a large group of humboldt or black-footed mixed with a smaller group of rockhopper or other more difficult species. Humboldts for example will disturb the open nest sites of gentoos or rockhoppers and can prevent them from nesting at all. Blue penguins are smaller than any of these species and may not be particularly suited to a busy community aviary with such a large colony of jackass penguins, inca terns etc. I get the feeling that if a UK zoo were able to import a sufficiently sized group, there would be less need to mix them with another species.
 
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