Saturday, September 29, 2018

Philadelphia Zoo: Snapshot #6 - The Penguin Point

One of the oldest set of habitats at the Philadelphia Zoo is their Bear Country trio of habitats all sliced from a basically circular "hill".  Over the years, various species of bears have made the wedges their home.  Just a year ago visitors could see a Polar Bear, an Andean Bear and a pair of Asian Sloth Bears.  Today, only the Sloth bear's remain.  The other two members of exhibits both died of natural causes having surpassed life expectancies for the species by many years a piece.  It is good to learn that a replacement pair of Andean Bears is on the horizon for that habitat, but the Polar Bear habitat has been reimagined and revamped accordingly into a home for the zoo's colony of Humboldt Penguins.

Penguin Point gives these beautiful little aquatic birds their first ever opportunity to really fly in the water.  Previously they inhabited a space with lots of "beach-like terrain and the water equivalent of a wading pool.  Now you can't hardly get them out of the water, according to a keeper a spoke with.  I regret the loss of Polar Bears as a species for this zoo, but when you see the penguins so active and I'll say it, "happy," in their new home, you just can't feel anything but happy yourself over this decision.







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