- Jan - March 2006
- April - June 2006
- July - Sept 2006
- Oct - Dec 2006
Penguin news from January - March 2006
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Penguins waddle but they don't fall down, UH researchers say (12 January 2006)
University of Houston professor Max Kurz is using dozens of king penguins from Moody Gardens as the subject of his research project investigating balance and locomotion. He hopes that learning about the penguins' distinctive waddle will help those with walking challenges, such as the elderly, those with leg or foot injuries and toddlers learning to walk.
Source: University of Houston
- Chronic oil pollution takes toll on seabirds along South American coast (31 January 2006)
New research on the effects of oil on Magellanic penguins along the Atlantic Coast in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina has shown the negative effects of chronic oil pollution. Existing laws are not solving the problem, said University of Washington biologist Dee Boersma, co-author of the paper, which appeared in Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Source: University of Washington
- Emperor penguins win the best documentary Oscar (7 March 2006)
A film about the trials of Emperor penguins struggling to survive in Antarctica, "March of the Penguins", won the Oscar for the best documentary last Sunday at the Hollywood Academy Awards.
Source: MercoPress
- Penguin sets new dive record (27 March 2006)
Phillip Island Nature Parks researchers have recorded the deepest ocean dive made by a little penguin at 67 metres, breaking the previous record of 57 metres, set in 2002. The female penguin, which weighed 1,020g, would usually dive to a maximum of 66 metres. But she managed to dive 67 metres, and was submerged for 90 seconds, which researchers also said was beyond her aerobic dive limit.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
- Penguins quick to snap up 'houses' on island (28 March 2006)
The 40 penguin "houses" on Dyer Island Nature Reserve off Gansbaai have all been snapped up by penguins - and there are another 1,960 in the pipeline. The project, a joint initiative between Cape Nature and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, comes as African penguin numbers on the island have dwindled from 22,000 in the 1970s to only 2,000 in 2006.
Source: IOL.co.za
- Pinguinale 2006 (Germany - 30 March 2006)
From 1 April till 19 August 2006 more then 100 penguin statues will be shown in Wuppertal (Germany). The zoo celebrates their 125 anniversary and on 19. August all statues will festively parade to the zoo, where they remain till 15 October.
Source: Pinguinale 2006
Penguin news from April - June 2006
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Penguins breeding later due to warming, study says (4 April 2006)
Antarctic seabirds are breeding later, because shrinking sea ice is causing their food supplies to dwindle, says a new study published by the French National Center for Scientific Research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Adélie penguins, Cape petrels, southern fulmars, and six other species were observed for the study. The birds, which nest in East Antarctica, have delayed their spring arrival by an average of nine days and egg-laying by an average of two days over the past 50 years.
Source: National Geographic News and BBC News
- Waimanu - 60-million year old penguins from New Zealand (6 April 2006)
Four fossilised penguins discovered in a Canterbury riverbed have been confirmed as the world's oldest remains of the species. Scientists believe they could be the missing link that proves modern birds lived alongside dinosaurs. DNA tests on the penguin fossils have determined they are between 60 million and 62 million years old - or up to 10 million years older than any other penguin remains discovered.
Source: Otago University
- Kidnapping penguins may be high on hormone, study says (18 April 2006)
Raging hormones might help explain why female emperor penguins that have lost a baby sometimes kidnap the chick of another. This bizarre snatching behaviour has long puzzled scientists. But a new study by a scientific team from the French National Center for Scientific Research, published in the "Journal of Experimental Biology", indicates that a hormone that influences the penguins' parenting urges might be driving the birds to steal chicks.
Source: National Geographic News
- What's happening to the little blue penguins? (29 April 2006)
Wildlife experts are at a loss to explain why large numbers of little blue penguins are washing up on North Island beaches.
The birds are starving to death because it is the moult season, where they stay on land without food for three weeks or more.
The penguins have also suffered from a poor feeding season and many were unable to feed their own chicks.
Source: NewsTalkZB and Department of Conservation
- Chinstrap pinguïns in Loroparque Teneriffa (1 May 2006)
Since a few days they also have 12 chinstrap penguins in Planet Penguin, the penguin exhibit in Loroparque (Teneriffa)
Source: Loroparque/Planet Penguin
- 'Burrowscope' aids fight to save penguins (3 May 2006)
Scientists have a new tool for helping to increase little penguin numbers in Tasmania's Derwent estuary.
A camera called a "burrowscope" has been purpose-built by the Derwent Estuary Penguin Program to enable it to monitor penguins without disturbing them. The burrowscope consists of an infra-red illuminated camera connected to a two-metre flexible lead and a standard computer monitor.
Source: ABC News
- Oil-slicked penguins wash ashore dead in Argentina (12 May 2006)
Hundreds of dead Magellanic penguins covered in oil have washed ashore in recent days on the coast of Argentina. Most have been found in the Cabo Virgenes nature reserve, about 2,200 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires near the southernmost tip of Patagonia. Several hundred more of the polluted birds have shown up alive, and rescue workers are scrambling to remove oil from the penguins' feathers.
Source: National Geographic News and BBC News
- New species of penguin found in Indian Ocean island (27 May 2006)
The planet is about to welcome a new species of penguin. The birds - a few thousand, small penguins on the French islands of Amsterdam and Saint Paul in the southern Indian Ocean - resemble millions of rockhopper penguins found all around the northern fringe of the Antarctic. And thanks to the stubborn research of French ornithologist Pierre Jouventin they have been declared a species in their own right.
The latin name of the new species is Eudyptes moseleyi.
Source: The tribune
- Kikuya control benefits penguins (2 June 2006)
The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will continue this winter with its burning program on Montague Island Nature Reserve aimed at bringing the noxious weed kikuyu under control for the benefit of many thousands of little penguins which call the Far South Coast Island home.
Source: Bega District News
- Penguins caught in oil spill saved by "Commando" veterinarians (16 June 2006)
When hundreds of oiled Magellanic penguins were washed ashore in Patagonia, Argentina in early May this year, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) called on their "commando vets" - a network of animal doctors and biologists who are ready to travel the world to save oiled seabirds.
Source: National Geographic News
Penguin news from July - September 2006
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Penguins sign up as ocean spies (13 July 2006)
Fifteen king penguins and eight elephant seals are swimming around the Southern Ocean with sensors superglued to their heads in the name of science. The animals are collecting data on water temperature and current flows, information that scientists will use to help complete global climate change models.
Source: ABC Science online
- Clean penguins return to sea after spill (Argentina - 1 August 2006)
Dozens of freshly cleaned Magellanic penguins waddled into the ocean Monday to the applause of onlookers, the first batch of close to 200 goo-covered birds that were rescued and washed after an oil spill.
Source: CBS News and U.S. Newswire
- If you're short and waddle these homes are for you (Nieuw-Zeeland - 2 August 2006)
Little blue penguins will be lured back to Cape Kidnappers by prime real estate. "It's like buying a modern house for free," is how eight-year-old Brady Hanna described the treated pine boxes that volunteers will dig in among the dunes and boulder areas at Ocean Beach and Rangaika in Hawkes Bay.
The boxes will be in the Cape Kidnappers and Ocean Beach Wildlife Preserve, a 2200ha area that will become a "mainland island" once an 8.6km pest-proof fence from Clifton across Cape Kidnappers to Ocean Beach is completed early next year.
Source: Hawke's Bay Today
- Movie star, penguins invade West Edmonton Mall (4 August 2006)
Jessica Alba was in Edmonton, Alberta, filming herlatest movie with her co-stars - 15 African penguins. In "Good Luck Chuck", Alba plays a penguin keeper. Apparently the star has bonded with the penguins and taken a shine to one in particular, Tweeblik.
Source: The Edmonton Journal
- Banding of penguins in Antarctic can cause increase in mortality rates, says Oregon researcher (10 August 2006)
The banding of Adélie penguins for purposes of scientific research may increase mortality rates by as much as 13 percent, according to a new study reported in the July issue of The Auk, a quarterly journal of ornithology.
Source: CentralPointNews.com
- Pinguinale 2006 (Germany - 19 August 2006)
The zoo celebrates their 125 anniversary and on 19. August all statues will festively parade to the zoo, where they remain till 15 October.
Source: Pinguinale 2006
- Pinguinale 2006 (Germany - 20 August 2006)
The parade was a huge success in Wuppertal (Germany).
Source: Several pictures and the story can be found on Westdeutsche Zeitung online (GE) and also on Remscheider General Anzeiger (GE)
- Oiled penguins flown to Cape Town (South Africa - 5 September 2006)
Forty oiled African penguins found on Bird Island in Algoa Bay near Port Elizabeth have received VIP treatment - they have been flown to SANCCOB in Cape Town for cleaning and rehabilitation.
Source: IOL.co.za
- Destitute penguins get fiberglass igloos (South Africa - 19 September 2006)
South African officials are building a housing development of fiberglass igloos for a colony of endangered African penguins on Dyer Island near Cape Town, hoping to replicate natural nesting grounds damaged by environmental degradation.
Guano mining took away their burrows, and the colony has dwindled to just 5,000 animals from 25,000 in the 1970s.
Source: MSNBC.com
- Number of endangered Humboldt penguins has doubled (Peru - 21 September 2006)
Good news! The number of "Humboldt" penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) on Peruvian coasts has more than doubled during the last four years, marine biologists said on Wednesday. More than 4000 aquatic birds were counted recently.
However, scientists stressed they are not sending out an all-clear message. It will take a lot more efforts to save this species. During the 18th and 19th century hundreds of thousands of this species inhabited the Peruvian pacific islands. In order to cross them off the list of endangered species and call them safe, more than 25.000 of the birds are needed.
Source: Living Peru
Penguin news from October - December 2006
Look out: These are older news flashes, so it's quite possible some links/sources doesn't work properly anymore!
- Pinguinale 2006 (Germany - 15 October 2006)
Final celebration Pinguinale 2006 at Wuppertal (Germany) was huge success.
Source: Several pictures and the story can be found on Westdeutsche Zeitung online (GE)
I have seen the statues when they were still in the zoo and made several pictures.
- Penguin tour in Germany (18 October 2006)
The Swiss polar photographers Heiner and Rosamaria Kubny come to Germany with their Panorama-Multivisions-Show "Im Reich der Pinguinen"
Dates: In Köln, Hyatt Regency Köln Kennedy Ufer 2a on Thursday 26.10.2006 at 20.00 am and
In Mainz, Kurfürstliches Schloss, Peter-Altmeier-Allee on Friday 27.10.2006 at 20.00 am
Ticket order directly on Pinguine.ch (GE)
- Baby penguins given second chance by SANCCOB (South Africa - 20 October 2006)
The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and CapeNature have rescued 401 African penguin chicks, aged between hatchlings and 2 months old, which were abandoned by their parents on Dyer Island off Gansbaai. Another 50 - 70 chicks are expected later this week
Source: IOL.co.za and SANCCOB
- New exhibition of the project Among Penguins (20 October 2006)
Bruno Pinguin Zehnder © - alle Rechte vorbehaltenNovember 11th, 2006 till March 25th, 2007, a new exhibition of Bruno Zehnders emperor penguin pictures takes place in the Naturmuseum Luzern (Switzerland).
They also give special lectures about penguins, Antarctica etc...
Bruno Penguin Zehnder is a famous emperor penguin photographer (see picture) who died 1997 among his favorite birds.
End October they also publish the first and unique book "WELT DER PINGUINE", including more then 150 beautiful pictures made by Zehnder. The book (till today you only found his pictures in famous magazines, cards and calendars) will contain 192 pages and will be for sale in the shop, where you can also order a calendar 2007 and cards.
Source: Unter Pinguinen
- Rabbits blamed for penguin deaths in landslide (21 October 2006)
Erosion and heavy spring rains have caused a large landslip on Macquarie Island, in the Southern Ocean about 1500 kilometres south-east of Tasmania, killing king penguins in an important colony.
Source: ABC News online and Planet Ark
- Penguins act as sheepdogs of the sea (26 October 2006)
Penguins work in teams to herd fish in the same way that sheepdogs chivvy sheep into a pen, scientists have found. Magellanic penguins will swim in ever decreasing circles to herd schools of fish into balls. As they tighten their circles the fish crowd together until they get so squashed up that the ball loses it shape and breaks up. The penguins then target those fish that stray and snatch a meal.
The sensor which is used in this research was developped by Prof. Rory Wilson.
Source: Times online and BBC online
- In my blue splayed shoes. (10 November 2006)
Elvis and 16 other little blue penguins have been given a new pair of blue shoes. They will keep the penguin's feet dry and infection-free. When they arrived at the International Antarctic Centre (Christchurch, NZ) in September, they got specially designed shoes after several penguins developed sore feet in their new home. Many have disabilities due to injuries.
Snugly tailored, with a springy sole, the shoes are available in kelp green or penguin blue - to complement any penguin tuxedo. Foot calluses were a common problem for penguins as they spent most of their time fishing at sea and were hardly ever on their feet. "Captive penguins, however, can become a bit lazy and will spend a lot of time standing around waiting for their fish to come to them," Antarctic Centre director Richard Benton said.
Source: Stuff NZ
- Global warming could wipe out most birds (14 November 2006)
Unchecked climate change could drive up to 72 per cent of the world's bird species into extinction but the world still has a chance to limit the losses, conservation group WWF said in a report on Tuesday.
From migratory insect-eaters to tropical honeycreepers and cold water penguins, birds are highly sensitive to changing weather conditions and many are already being affected badly by global warming, the new study said.
Source: Planet Ark, WWF (Eng) and WWF Belgium (NL)
- "Happy feet", a new film release of Warner Bros (November 2006)
A new, very funny film with penguins is coming out on November 17th 2006: "Happy feet"
Warner Bros calls this animated movie "a comedy adventure" set deep in Antarctica. The story is based on the idea that each Emperor Penguin needs a heart song to find a mate, and one little penguin is born without that can not sing.
Official website with pictures, news and trailer: Warner Bros
Source: Cinenews
- Scottish exchange with penguins/New penguin species in Antwerp zoo (23 November 2006)
A new penguin species arrived at the Zoo in Antwerp (BE).
Eight gentoo penguins moved in from Edinburgh zoo (Scottland) to Antwerp. With those four couples they hope for breeding success.
A few weeks ago 5 male and 2 female rockhopper penguins moved from Antwerp to Edinburgh, to improve the breeding success of rockhopper there. While Antwerp had most male and Edinburgh most female rockhopper the both zoo's decided to exchange their penguins, in the hope for greater breeding success.
The new gentoo penguins have adapted very well in their new enclosure at "Vriesland" in Antwerp and enjoy swimming around with the other species of king and macaroni penguins.
The Antwerp zoo simulate the Antarctic seasons in Vriesland by managing the lights and day schedule. Purpose: they stimulate a natural cycle of moulting and breeding periods for the birds, improving the breeding success. The air is specially filtered to avoid mildew and the temperature inside is ± 6°C, as a optimal imitation of their natural environment.
Source: Zoo Antwerpen
- Scientists puzzled by extreme penguin dives (1 December 2006)
When emperor penguins dive below the Antarctic sea ice in search of krill and fish, they can descend five times as deep as a human and can swim on a single breath for up to 20 minutes. Researchers are trying to find out how they manage these incredible feats to potentially help improve surgical procedures and anesthesia.
Using small devices called time-depth recorders, researchers found that the birds could dive deeper than 1,800 feet (549 metre) - the deepest a human can dive unassisted is just over 300 feet (91 meter).
Source: Live Science
- FACTBOX - The El Nino Weather Phenomenon and El Nino Stretching to Early 2007 (4 December 2006)
A moderate "El Nino" event has taken hold in the tropical Pacific, threatening to trigger further weather disruption into the first quarter of 2007, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Friday.
El Nino can cause food shortage for penguins along the South American coast.
Source: Planet Ark ("FACTBOX - The El Nino Weather Phenomenon") and Planet Ark ("UN Agency Sees El Nino Stretching to Early 2007")
- Public asked to help track penguin vandals (7 December 2006)
Authorities ask for help from the public to track down vandals who attacked a colony of endangered little penguins in Sydney harbour. Two eggs were smashed and three nesting boxes destroyed in an attack on the colony near Manly last week, triggering widespread condemnation.
The endangered colony, the only one on mainland Australia, is a breeding ground for 60 pairs of the little penguins.
Source: News.com.au and Stern.de (GE)
- Mystery illness kills all but one yellow-eyed chick (13 December 2006)
The yellow-eyed penguins at Stewart Island, southern of New Zealand, are facing an uncertain future after a mystery illness wiped out all but one of this season's chicks. Regular monitoring of the penguins' largest population on the island found that of the 32 chicks hatched, just one had survived.
Source: Stuff.co.nz
- Penguins offer evidence of Global Warming (16 December 2006)
The first Adelie penguin chicks of the season - black fluffballs small enough to hold in the hand - started hatching this month, and the simple fact that there are more of them in the south and fewer of them further north is a sign of global warming, scientists say.
Source: Reuters and Planet Ark
- Unhappy feat: biologists baffled as millions of penguins vanish (23 December 2006)
Millions of rockhopper penguins are disappearing in a "sinister and astonishing" phenomenon that is baffling biologists. In just six years their numbers have fallen from 600,000 to 420,000 in the Falkland Islands - one of their few remaining strongholds - according to the latest survey by Falklands Conservation.
Lovelace - one of the stars of this year's Christmas blockbuster, "Happy Feet" - is a Rockhopper Penguin.
Listed as Vulnerable by BirdLife and the IUCN, the rockhopper is one of ten species of penguin facing the threat of global extinction.
Source: Scottsman and Birdlife
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