X-Factor 2016 winner Matt Terry came face-to-face with our colony of Humboldt penguins, but it was his puppet co-stars who caught our birds’ attention! The singer, who was joined by some of his fellow cast members of Madagascar the Musical took time out of their tour to visit DZG ahead of their stop-off at Wolverhampton Grand … Continue reading From Madagascar to DZG!
Every day is Valentine’s Day for our loved-up Humboldt penguins, who pair for life, so why not let them help woo your loved one this forthcoming February 14. The flightless birds are monogamous and begin searching for a mate around two years-old, recognising each other through vocalisations. They also nest in the same boxes year-on-year, … Continue reading DZG animals help woo valentines!
We’re celebrating our popular black and white aquatic birds today as it’s World Penguin Day! And we’re delighted to have raised £252.91 through our fundraising efforts on Sunday in aid of Sphenisco, which works to protect Humboldt penguins in their native Chile and Peru. Zoo bosses have also donated the sales of Sunday’s nectar pots … Continue reading It’s World Penguin Day
Our oldest Humboldt penguin, Pingu, is celebrating his 26th birthday today! He’s a very special penguin to DZG as he was one of the founding members of the zoo colony back in 1991 having been hand-reared by keepers. The breeding programme, which was honoured with a prestigious BIAZA conservation award ten years ago, was headed … Continue reading Pingu’s 26!
Ahead of next week’s World Penguin Day, we’ll be raising awareness and funds on Sunday for our most popular birds on site! Bird keepers will be raising money for Sphenisco, which works in Chile and Peru to save the Humboldt penguin from extinction. Visitors can find out more out the species, as well as helping us raise … Continue reading Raising funds for penguins
Our annual census is well underway and creatures great and small are being counted across the zoo’s 40-acre site. For most species it’s a simple matter of a quick head count, but bird keepers came up with inventive colour-coded strips to help identify individual Humboldt penguins in our colony – one of the biggest in Europe. Section Leader, … Continue reading Identifying penguins!
Thirty one DZG Humboldt penguins have had a late Christmas present after receiving names from generous adopters. Keepers discovered 40 of our 85-strong colony didn’t have names on their official zoo records, just identification numbers, so we offered penguin fans the chance to adopt and name them. Marketing Assistant, Louise Curtis, said: “We were overwhelmed … Continue reading Flippin’ great news!
We’re offering DZG supporters the unique chance to adopt and name one of our Humboldt penguins! We’ve had great success with our colony since we started it off in 1991, with just five hand-reareds and now have a headcount of 85 – one of the largest colonies in the UK. But following a recent ID … Continue reading P-p-pick your own penguin!
Some of DZG’s animals feature in a new educational CBeebies television series, which began airing yesterday. We took part in the filming of Andy’s Baby Animals back in July, when popular 6’4″ children’s presenter, Andy Day, visited the site to meet one of our baby Humboldt penguins and three newborn peafowl chicks. The 20-part series … Continue reading DZG on CBeebies!
