Penguins! Penguins! Penguins!
Nora Ruotolo
Millions of Humboldt penguins once lived and thrived along the rocky coastlines of La Isla Grande de Chiloé, located in southern Chile. The population of these penguins has dwindled into the thousands due to overfishing and climate change. The Penguins of Patagonia at the Mesker Park Zoo tell the story of the Humboldt species in an exhibit that has been years in the making. The penguins are under threat of extinction. They are currently classified as vulnerable. To connect guests with the penguins, creating an engaging exhibit is crucial. Through connections formed between people and penguins, there is hope that the Humboldt population can endure. “It’s made to feel like you’re immersed in the Chile coastline where you would see these penguins. We want the penguins to feel like they live there, and we want people to feel like they went there,” said Lauren Norvell, the conservation education curator at the zoo. In Chile, Humboldt penguins dwell along a steep, rocky terrain that boarders a temperate forest. They nest on the coast, while feeding in the water. The exhibit, which opened on October 27th, portrays a similar image. There are plenty of rocks for the penguins to jump from into the water. They have room to swim and display natural behaviors. “It took many, many years and a lot of fundraising,” said Norvell, “the plan was developed with the whole zoo staff, the managers at the zoo, and the board.”
3 | November 2021 | Crescent Magazine
The addition of this exhibit goes to show that the zoo is an important place in Evansville and its citizens. “It’s the biggest exhibit that Mesker has open to date. It’s a sign of the growth of the zoo and what it can do for the community. And there’s just nothing else like it in our community at all. It’s quite a gift and a treasure,” said Norvell. Facts about the species are displayed on plaques throughout the exhibit. One of the plaques highlights preening, or the cleaning of feathers, which is a behavior that will be observed by guests year-round. “This exhibit and these penguins are very important to advocate for Humboldt penguins and advocate for clean oceans and a clean environment. They’re very important because they bring a lot to our community zoo,” said Norvell. The 14 Humboldt penguins arrived in Evansville from zoos that are all over the United States as part of a species survival plan (SSP). “All of the zoos in the country work together to manage animals that are in a SSP. What we’re trying to do is make sure that we are managing the population that’s in captivity well enough, so that they can be genetically diverse and genetically viable, so that if there were very few penguins in the wild, we would have a genetically diverse population in captivity to reintroduce them to the wild,” said Norvell. The Humboldt penguin species is at risk. “Through overfishing and climate change their numbers have plummeted from the millions in the previous entry to thousands now,” said Paul Bouseman, the zoo’s deputy director. Pollution from Evansville has a direct impact on the waters off the coastline of Chile where the Humboldt penguins reside. Plastics that are ingested by penguins and other marine life can lead to their death through suffocation and starvation. “Everything that goes into our watersheds here in the Midwest ends up in the ocean eventually,” said Bouseman. The zoo created the Humboldt penguin exhibit to share their story and inform people about the environmental issues affecting these penguins. “For people to want to solve a problem, you have to show the person that they are connected. Having the animals here, as those ambassadors, and to create those bonds between people and wildlife
