WEYMOUTH’S penguins will be in for some egg-shaped surprises as a treat for World Penguin Day.
The playful birds at Weymouth Sea Life Park will be given some frozen eggs with sprats inside today to give them a fun, fish treat.
The Animal care Team said the eggs will provide the penguins with some great enrichment as they will have to work to get the tasty treat out.
A spokesman for the park said: “The colony of 11 Humboldt Penguins at Weymouth Sea Life Park are part of a Sea Life-Wide breeding programme in which 12 have been successfully bred at the attraction since they resided at the Park in 2002. The captive breeding program aims to help sustain numbers in captivity due to their drastic decline in the wild and many penguins bred at the Park have been given to other Sea Life sites to increase the gene pool.
“Humboldt Penguins are classed as vulnerable on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. With only about 12,000 Humboldt Penguins left in the wild, it’s hoped that the breeding colony at the Park will continue to be as successful as it currently is.”
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