 Fluffy Celebrates her 1st Birthday! Fluffy the Penguin will be celebrating her 1st birthday in style this week, by joining her parents and other Penguins in the daily ‘Penguin Parade’ at the Welsh Mountain Zoo. Staff at the Zoo are delighted by the progress made by the Humboldt Penguin. After her parents neglected to give her the care she required, Fluffy was hand reared by dedicated Keepers, Michelle Pywell and Vicki Small. She was kept warm in an incubator and fed every four hours (day and night) with liquidised herring and vitamins from a syringe until she was fit enough to join the other Penguins. A year on, Fluffy looks forward to the daily ‘Penguin Parade’ displays at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, where she happily waddles past visitors feet! Michelle Pywell said “It has been rewarding to watch just how quickly Fluffy has developed and joined in with training routines. She is really mischievous and loves the attention she receives as she parades in front of her audience. ” The Zoo has seven breeding pairs of penguins, three of which have already hatched chicks this year. The chicks that hatched during April and are being reared by their parents are expected to appear for visitors to see during the next few weeks. Humboldt penguins are found on the west coast of Peru in South America and live along the coast where the sea is very cold due to the Humboldt current which comes up from the Antarctic. Penguins form large colonies on land during the breeding season. Two eggs are laid in a burrow and hatch after 38 days. Both parents look after the young which are fed on regurgitated fish. Although they are birds and have wings, penguins cannot fly. They are clumsy on land but are very efficient in the water due to their streamlined shape, water proof feathers, webbed feet and wings which are used as flippers. The collection of the penguin excrement (guano) by man to use as a fertiliser has destroyed large areas of the Humboldt penguins’ breeding ground and they are now endangered in the wild. Date: 29th May 2007
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