Dudley Zoo welcomes three new penguins after malaria outbreak which only five survived
Dudley Zoo has welcomed three new Humboldt penguins after a devastating malaria outbreak which killed all but five of its colony last year.
The zoo is starting to rebuild its colony after the heartbreaking events of last year which saw 65 of its 70 penguins die.
However, last week three rare penguin chicks arrived at Dudley Zoo from Curraghs Wildlife Park in the Isle of Man and are currently settling into an off-show area.
The ten month-old male juveniles will soon join the zoo's remaining five penguins, females Banjo, Sparky, Nell, and Jake, as well as male, Elliot, in the public walkthrough exhibit.
Keepers hope in time that the penguins will breed and boost numbers of the rare species further.
Director of Dudley Zoo, Derek Grove, said: "After losing almost all of our 70-strong Humboldt colony to a devastating outbreak of avian malaria at the start of 2022, we've focused our efforts into continuing to care for the surviving penguins and putting into place additional preventative measures to deter any reoccurrence.
"It's been an incredibly testing time for our bird team, but these three new arrivals are very special, as they'll hopefully play an important role in being founding members of DZC's new Humboldt colony as we aim to replicate our past success of having one of the largest self-sustained groups in the country once more.”
Six penguin chicks have also been moved from the same wildlife park to West Midland Safari Park, which have been named after members of the Kardashian family.
A spokesperson for the safari park said: "Here come the girls! Six young, female penguins have arrived at the Safari Park from Curraghs Wildlife Park in the Isle of Man.
"As they hatched in 2022, they have been given names beginning with 'K', and our Keepers took inspiration from a famous family! Any guesses what their names are?
"They have settled quickly and are already swimming and eating with the rest of the colony. A big thanks to Curraghs, who kindly bred these birds and cared for them until they were old enough to join us!"
Listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to a declining population, the South American-native species is threatened by climate change, habitat destruction and over-fishing.
In recent years, Curraghs Wildlife Park has raised more than £2,000 to support ‘Sphenisco’, a charity which works to educate people in Chile and Peru so they can help protect the species.
Kathleen Graham, Curraghs Wildlife Park's general manager, said: "It’s a great success story. A lot of dedicated work from the team goes in to breeding and caring for our penguin colony and we are very proud of the achievement.
"Not only have we made a significant contribution to the captive back up population of this wonderful penguin species, but also helped to boost the conservation work in the field."
Clare Barber MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, said: ‘I am delighted to see the latest tuxedo of Manx penguins safely housed in their new collections in the West Midlands. The team should be very proud of this continued breeding success, and also their fundraising that is helping in the wild.’
