Penguin Species
- Thread starter Deviant*Strain
- Start date
Yes - both places have had Kings in their current exhibits.
So have Bristol now got another Penguin species in 'Seals and Coasts'?
johnstoni
Well-Known Member
I am pretty sure Bristol did not have any king penguins left when Seal & Penguin Coasts opened. As I understand it, they opened that exhibit with new groups of both African and gentoo penguins.
I don't think Bristol kept Rockhoppers or Macaronis either by the time the current exhibit was built. I would be interested to know where these birds went.
I've got photos of Kings in Seal and Penguin Costs - I'll try to dig them out this weekend.
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johnstoni
Well-Known Member
I am pleasantly surprised by this. Having done a little reading, it seems that several sources confirm this. I would suggest there may not have been more than 2 or so Kings, and that these would have been birds moved from the old exhibit. This anecdotal account mentions them:
The Penguin Coast at Bristol Zoo
Interestingly, this print suggests this species was actually being bred at Bristol as late as the mid-eighties:
https://www.art247.com/Canvas/13321-Pengy-the-Penguin--King-Penguin-born-at-Bristol-Zoo
This quote also confirms the penguin species that the exhibit opened with:
"Seal and Penguin Coasts is a £2 million exhibit at Bristol Zoo Gardens opened at the end of June 1999, exhibiting 3 species of penguin (African, gentoo and king) with flying birds (eg Inca tern and European cormorant) and South American fur seals."
- Evaluation of visitor reaction to ‘Seal and Penguin Coasts’ at Bristol Zoo Gardens
Stephen P. Woollard, Bristol Zoo Gardens, from BIAZA Research News, Vol 1, 2000.
Either the kings were quite old, or they quickly succumbed to something in the new exhibit, as they didn't last long there. As other members have mentioned, the late 90s were a period of several outbreaks of avian malaria and aspergillosis in UK penguin stocks, and may account for the sudden disappearance of a number of penguins from various UK institutions. This article mentions Bristol losing eight penguins in 1999 (the year Seal and Penguin Coasts opened):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/467989.stm
I would be saddened, but not totally surprised, if the remaining rockhopper and macaroni penguins at Bristol were taken out by foxes during the 90s, until only the kings and some African penguins were left to move to Seal and Penguin Coasts, at which point the zoo clearly brought in additional African penguins and a new group of Gentoos for the new exhibit. What I hope happened, is that some kind of exchange occurred where Bristol recieved its gentoos for its Rockhopper and Macaroni penguins. I would expect the gentoo penguins to have come from Edinburgh, and possibly Bristols rockhoppers and macaronis went up there?
Can anyone shed any light on that?
The Penguin Coast at Bristol Zoo
Interestingly, this print suggests this species was actually being bred at Bristol as late as the mid-eighties:
https://www.art247.com/Canvas/13321-Pengy-the-Penguin--King-Penguin-born-at-Bristol-Zoo
This quote also confirms the penguin species that the exhibit opened with:
"Seal and Penguin Coasts is a £2 million exhibit at Bristol Zoo Gardens opened at the end of June 1999, exhibiting 3 species of penguin (African, gentoo and king) with flying birds (eg Inca tern and European cormorant) and South American fur seals."
- Evaluation of visitor reaction to ‘Seal and Penguin Coasts’ at Bristol Zoo Gardens
Stephen P. Woollard, Bristol Zoo Gardens, from BIAZA Research News, Vol 1, 2000.
Either the kings were quite old, or they quickly succumbed to something in the new exhibit, as they didn't last long there. As other members have mentioned, the late 90s were a period of several outbreaks of avian malaria and aspergillosis in UK penguin stocks, and may account for the sudden disappearance of a number of penguins from various UK institutions. This article mentions Bristol losing eight penguins in 1999 (the year Seal and Penguin Coasts opened):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/467989.stm
I would be saddened, but not totally surprised, if the remaining rockhopper and macaroni penguins at Bristol were taken out by foxes during the 90s, until only the kings and some African penguins were left to move to Seal and Penguin Coasts, at which point the zoo clearly brought in additional African penguins and a new group of Gentoos for the new exhibit. What I hope happened, is that some kind of exchange occurred where Bristol recieved its gentoos for its Rockhopper and Macaroni penguins. I would expect the gentoo penguins to have come from Edinburgh, and possibly Bristols rockhoppers and macaronis went up there?
Can anyone shed any light on that?
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johnstoni
Well-Known Member
This article interests me as well. I think the 'UK Zoo' the author conducted the study at must have been Edinburgh zoo, despite the fact that Bristol Zoo is the contact address:
http://library.vetmed.fu-berlin.de/...EAZWV/Parijs PDF/Microsoft Word - Redrobe.pdf
My question would be, if the zoo in this article was Edinburgh, when did Edinburgh stop keeping Macaroni Penguins, and is this the group now at Living Coasts?
Edinburgh seemed to bring in Macaroni penguins around 1992, to be housed in the new penguin facility. I am assuming they already had rockhoppers, although I have a vague memory of reading something in IZN about these being housed separately for a time. There seems to have been some movement in the late 90s with Macaronis going to Marwell (I'm not sure from whom), where they all died of avian malaria, and Hillside Bird Oasis also acquiring a group. At some point since the late 90s, it would appear Edinburgh gave up keeping Macaronis, while Living coasts opened and established a new group there. I also think Twycross went into keeping Macaronis within the last decade, although it now seems they have joined the other group at Living coasts.
http://library.vetmed.fu-berlin.de/...EAZWV/Parijs PDF/Microsoft Word - Redrobe.pdf
My question would be, if the zoo in this article was Edinburgh, when did Edinburgh stop keeping Macaroni Penguins, and is this the group now at Living Coasts?
Edinburgh seemed to bring in Macaroni penguins around 1992, to be housed in the new penguin facility. I am assuming they already had rockhoppers, although I have a vague memory of reading something in IZN about these being housed separately for a time. There seems to have been some movement in the late 90s with Macaronis going to Marwell (I'm not sure from whom), where they all died of avian malaria, and Hillside Bird Oasis also acquiring a group. At some point since the late 90s, it would appear Edinburgh gave up keeping Macaronis, while Living coasts opened and established a new group there. I also think Twycross went into keeping Macaronis within the last decade, although it now seems they have joined the other group at Living coasts.
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I've got photos of Kings in Seal and Penguin Costs - I'll try to dig them out this weekend.
I think I remember seeing them now- I believe there were just two, as in the photo, and that they were both the same sex- males? Not sure what happened to them though.
I certainly don't remember them being a big group - it may well have just been the two in the photo.
Not sure of the exact date but the entire macaroni colony at Edinburgh did move to Living Coasts. Edinburgh kept rockhoppers before the current penguin enclosure was built and they were housed in an enclosure further up the hill at the bottom of the cat dens. They were actually housed there for quite a few years after the new enclosure was built and only moved down to the newer enclosure in the last few years.
peacockpheasant
Active Member
Penguin Coasts opened with 2.0 King Penguins. These were lost to Mackerel infected with Clostridium.
I spend a lot of time at Living Coasts and can confirm their macaroni penguins came from Edinburgh and their gentoo penguins went to Edinburgh. The 5 macaroni penguins held by Twycross, including the hand reared chick from last year (Solly), have recently moved to Living Coasts, but I believe this is not permanent-something to do with Twycross changing the enclosure?
toucanwalk
Well-Known Member
i hope twycross is planning an enclosure re-vamp but the zoo has not said anything to me about it as i write often about their birds.