Penguin In Aussie Zoo Overcomes Loneliness By Binge-Watching ‘Pingu’, Watch Video

The pandemic has impacted all our lives in a way we didn’t expect, and the same goes for the animal kingdom too, especially penguins. For instance, video footage of penguins exploring an empty aquarium amid lockdown and meeting other animals, or widowed penguins spotted ‘comforting’ each other, while others being seen strolling on the streets.

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During times like this the truly lucky ones are those that can be with the person/people they love most. I captured this moment about a year ago. These two Fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper, watching the sparkling lights of the skyline and ocean. A volunteer approached me and told me that the white one was an elderly lady who had lost her partner and apparently so did the younger male to the left. Since then they meet regularly comforting each other and standing together for hours watching the dancing lights of the nearby city. I spend 3 full nights with this penguin colony until I was able to get this picture. Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but i got lucky during one beautiful moment. I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did. #lovewillalwayswin • 📸 @tobiasvisuals •Shot on Nikon Z6, Nikkor 50mm 1.4, ISO 8000, 50mm, f/1.4, 1/60 sec

A post shared by Tobias Baumgaertner (@tobiasvisuals) on Mar 25, 2020 at 4:16pm PDT

In today’s penguin news, an endangered Australian northern rockhopper penguin named Pierre, who is currently in rehabilitation at Perth Zoo, watches an animated series called ‘Pingu’ (which is about a family of penguins) to drive away from its loneliness, Metro News reports. Check out the video in which he happily flaps his wings upon seeing the footage on an iPad:-

A rare Northern Rockhopper Penguin recovering at Perth Zoo is being kept well entertained during his stay. pic.twitter.com/M9VD2kYRzO

— 10 News First Perth (@10NewsFirstPER) August 25, 2020

In the video, we can see the zookeeper holding up the iPad screen for the penguin to view, as scenes of the cartoon show ‘Pingu’ play, as well as live-stream footage of other real rockhopper penguins from various zoos.

As per a report in Yahoo News, Pierre is less than a year old and is recovering due to health concerns. He washed ashore on a beach in southwest Australia after having survived a “record-breaking” swim from islands in either the Indian or South Atlantic Ocean. Explaining his condition, the zoo released a press release saying, “He is experiencing feather molting problems and is currently not waterproof so cannot be released to the wild but is receiving lots of TLC from the Perth Zoo veterinary team to get him back to full health.”

Dr. Peter Ricci from the zoo says, “He is a pretty cool little penguin. He is really used to people – and being the only Rockhopper we have in the care we try and make his life as enriching as possible while he grows his feathers back.” Reportedly, his daily routine includes being fed every day, having a light water mist, being weighed, and checking himself out in the mirror.

We hope that the penguin stays safe and happy during his stay so that he could be released in the wild soon. What do you think? Tell us!

Cover Image Source- Left, Right