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Endangered penguin trio arrive at Humboldt Harbour

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Three endangered Humboldt penguins have arrived at Woburn Safari Park as part of an international breeding programme.

Three new humboldt penguins at Woburn Safari Park.jpg

The three new arrivals made the journey from Welsh Mountain Zoo in February and have been enjoying settling into their new home in Humboldt Harbour since.

Named Koopa, Tank and Wobble, the trio are all male and aged around 1 years and 9 months old.

The Park is already home to 13 Humboldt Penguins. Typically Humboldt penguins are monogamous, which means they mate for life, but not all of the Park’s penguins are currently in bonded pairs. As the species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN list, the hope is that the new arrivals will pair up with some of the Park’s other individuals to help benefit the Humboldt penguin gene pool!

Three new humboldt penguins arrive at Woburn Safari Park.jpg

Mixing between the existing residents and the new penguins all went well, with all of the colony getting on swimmingly! Goose, a six-year-old penguin wasted no time at all in investigating his new feathery friends and was the first to welcome the new arrivals.

Keepers have described Koopa, Tank and Wobble as confident individuals, so everyone is sure they will soon become firm favourites among both keepers and visitors!

Visitors meeting the three new humboldt penguins.jpg

The Humboldt penguins

The Humboldt penguin is named after the strip of water it swims in, the Humboldt Current, but is also known as the Peruvian penguin because of the unusual location of this strip of water.

Unlike their colder climate relatives, they are found along the coast of Chile and Peru.

Each penguin has a totally unique spot pattern on their chests, which they keep throughout their life.

Fundraising for the Humboldt penguins

This year you can join keepers on the 23rd and 24th April for their penguin charity weekend. There will be an array of fun penguin-themed games to get involved with, as you help keepers raise much-needed funds for Sphenisco.

This fantastic charity is dedicated to safeguarding the future of penguins including the Humboldt penguin, which is currently classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

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