By Genesis Combs —
On Friday, November 15th, the Cincinnati Zoo stopped by to give students a presentation on penguins. They talked about the thirteen different species of penguins, from the giant Emperor Penguins who can grow up to four feet tall, to the Little Blue penguins that reach about 16 inches (not quite to the knees of most adults). These flightless birds live all across the southern hemisphere, not just in Antarctica. They can be found even in warmer climates, such as the southern coast of Africa and the islands of New Zealand. Still, global warming threatens the habitats of penguins and their prey, with oil spills and over-fishing also contributing to most penguin species being considered endangered. This is where Cincinnati Zoo is stepping in. They have an African black-footed penguin breeding program which aims to release penguins back into the wild and help recover their population.
Alongside the presentation, the zoo brought one of their African black-footed penguins for everyone to see, stirring a great deal of excitement during the event. Roughly forty students, across two sessions, gathered to see the penguin, and in the process, left with critical penguin conservation information.
However, don’t fret if you were unable to come in and see the penguin for yourself. The Pulse was there, too, and many photos (plus a video) were taken for everyone.
