Maryland Zoo Highlight #1: The Penguin Coast

 The Penguin Coast was built in 2013-14, and opened to the public on 27 SEP 2014.

It is home to the largest colony of African Black-footed (or Jackass) penguins in North America.  Our breeding colony dances around 100 birds with a capacity of about 125.  In the nearly 60 year history of the Maryland Zoo supporting African Penguins, we have had over 1,000 live births!  Birds from our colony have virtually been part of every other colony in North America by either direct transfer or indirect genetic lineage.  The African Penguin, it is safe to say, is one of our signature species.  Additionally, annually we send thousands of dollars to SANCOOB, the leading regional (South Africa and Namibia) conservation organization working with Species Survival in Africa, as well as, zoo staff travelling to both Namibia and South Africa to share our expertise and learn from the work being done on the ground.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature identified just over six months ago fewer than 10,000 viable breeding pairs of the African Penguin in the wild.  This represents a drop from over 200,000 birds a century ago.  Most of the decline has occurred in the past 30 years with a trajectory that sadly predicts extinction in the wild by 2035.  It's nearly incomprehensible.

The unique feature of this habitat is that its pool is a "doughnut" which allows the birds to swim in a large continuous loop.  At one point the depth of the pool reaches over 20 feet creating the opportunity for the birds to swim at high speeds and moderate depths like their wild cousins.  The large habitat has been shared over the years by other avian species native to the same regions of Africa.  White-Breasted Cormorants, and Pink-Back Pelicans were among the first.  Today, only a pair of Great White Pelicans (Wallace and Gromet) also call the Penguin Coast Habitat home.  

Some pics from today's visit.

17 members of our precious colony enjoying the warm March sun

Wallace and Gromet were also "catching some rays!"