It’s National Penguin Awareness Day and we’re sharing the quirky personalities of each of our penguins that make them all so loveable! Six of the African penguins came to Busch Gardens this past summer from Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia. The youngest penguin, Banks, came to the park as an egg from The Georgia Aquarium in early May.
Banks hatched at Busch Gardens on May 29 and was hand reared by our neonate team. Baby African penguins hatch with a fluffy coat and begin swimming at about three months when their juvenile feathers have grown in. The team assisted Banks in learning how to swim by using a kiddie pool. It did not take him long to figure out how to control his buoyancy. The trickiest part was for him to learn how to get out of the pool using all his tools; body, wings, feet and beak. Take a look at some of his swimming lessons below that were shown on an episode of The Wildlife Docs!
Once Banks learned to swim he was slowly introduced to the rest of the colony. This whole process took nearly five months and now Banks and the rest of the colony have been living together in their new habitat since Thanksgiving.
Dijon and Curry, our oldest penguins, are brother and sister. Dijon (pictured to the right above) is very outgoing and extremely friendly to her keepers. She is a great animal ambassador for her species, making numerous radio and TV appearances as well as participating in Christmas Town photo opportunities with guests. Curry (pictured right below) is not as outgoing but loves to hang around the keeper’s feet during feedings and is always curious of anything going on in the habitat. Curry also loves to showing off his speed and agility in the water.
Marino (pictured left above), named after one of the greatest quarterbacks, hatched last February and loves to have his neck scratched. However, you don’t want to do it too long otherwise Dijon will get jealous! Marino also likes to play ball. Go figure.
MK, short for Mary Katherine, is the quirky one. She hatched last March and is sweet when she wants to be. She loves braying to some of the keepers for attention, too. Braying is the vocalization used by African penguins to communicate to one another.
Tang (picture far right below) is our second largest male and also hatched last March. He prefers to be by himself and spends most of the day in the water showing off his swimming abilities.
Lloyd (center above) is our stealthiest and most laid back Penguin. If you are not looking out he will sneak up behind you and give a little peck in the back of the leg to let you know he is there. Lloyd is our largest male, weighing 8 lbs.
The latest additions to our African Penguin family are two baby penguins that hatched at Busch Gardens in November. Stay tuned as we continue to discover their fun personalities and characteristics! Until then, keep an eye on Busch Gardens' Twitter where the Animal Care Center posts select feeding times throughout the week!
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