King penguin Nils Olav parades his way to a new honour

Photo credit: RZSS Edinburgh Zoo

UK – On  22 August, His Majesty the King of Norway’s Guard paid a very special visit to RZSS Edinburgh Zoo to bestow a unique honour upon one of its resident king penguins, Sir Nils Olav. Already a knight, the most famous king penguin in the world was given the new title of “Brigadier Sir Nils Olav”.

The prestigious title was awarded during a special ceremony that was attended by over 50 uniformed soldiers of His Majesty the King of Norway’s Guard, who are taking part in The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo this year. Sir Nils inspected the soldiers of the Guard as he paraded his way up Penguin Walk.

Penguin centenary at Edinburgh Zoo

UK – The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) is celebrating an auspicious milestone this week: 25 January 2014 marks a century since the arrival of penguins at Edinburgh Zoo – the first ever penguins to be seen in Europe. Penguins have since become iconic for the Zoo, and the species was incorporated into the Zoo’s logo.

Innovative surgical devices save inquisitive penguins

UK – Two important points to take away from veterinary surgeon Romain Pizzi's presentation at the recent 8th International Penguin Conference are: one, Edinburgh Zoo's penguins have a habit of swallowing things they shouldn't; and two, those penguins should be grateful for skilled vets and innovative surgical instruments.

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland vet Mr Pizzi, a pioneer in using minimally invasive surgery techniques, told the conference how he used instruments designed by Leeds-based company Surgical Innovations to carry out keyhole surgery on penguins who had swallowed foreign objects.

Penguins pooh-pooh panda fans

Suffering from "monochrome jealousy"? A rockhopper
penguin at Edinburgh Zoo. Photo credit: purplegrum.
Some rights reserved.

UNITED KINGDOM - The arrival of pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang at Edinburgh Zoo in December caused great excitement among the city's human inhabitants, but not all the locals seem to be as happy with the zoo's new residents.

The rockhopper penguins' enclosure borders that of the pandas, and visitors queuing to see the black-and-white mammals are being hit by penguin droppings as the inquisitive black-and-white birds watch the goings-on below.

The zoo's director of business operations, Gary Wilson, told the media, "Our rockhopper penguins in particular have been watching the events at the panda enclosure below with great interest, ever since work started on the enclosure.

"Extremely curious birds, they often gather next to the wall to see what's happening below. We're hoping it's not a case of monochrome jealousy, but one or two of our rockhoppers seem to have had surprisingly good aim."

The zoo is now considering installing a glass panel to protect the visitors.

Source
Panda fans hit by penguin droppings, 20 December 2011, Press Association

Penguins take gold, silver and bronze at Edinburgh Zoo

Sponsors' favourite: king penguins at
Edinburgh Zoo. Photo by Fulla T.
Some rights reserved.

UNITED KINGDOM - Penguins are awesome, obviously, and it's heartening to see that the good people of Scotland recognise this. Well, Edinburgh Zoo supporters do at any rate, according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

Over the past year, king penguins were the most popular choice for people sponsoring animals from the zoo, with gentoo and rockhopper penguins coming in second and third respectively.

RZSS figures show that 180 people sponsored one of the regal kings (whose popularity probably gets a boost from having Sir Nils Olav, who received a Norwegian knighthood in 2008, among their ranks), 106 people a gentoo and 99 a rockhopper.

In my opinion, it's likely that the penguins' daily walk gives them the edge over the zoo's other animals. It's not often you get to see zoo animals leave their enclosures and strut their stuff. 

Tracy Hope, RZSS Acting Development Manager, told the media, "Animal adoption is a great way to support RZSS. Our animals need care 365 days a year, and by adopting an animal you can contribute to this."

Source

Scots rush to pick up a penguin, 2 January 2011, Press Association