WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Cameron Park Zoo's upcoming Penguin Shores exhibit is ready for its August 8th debut, with 22 African penguins, 11 boys and 11 girls, getting acclimated to the Waco Weather and preparing for life in Central Texas.
The goal for the zoo opening the exhibit is to show conservation efforts and to be a helping hand in preventing the extinction of the feathered friends.
The Penguin Shores exhibit opens to the public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 8.
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It’s not every day that these black and white birds can be seen in Central Texas.
“They’ve been here for a little over a month now,” said Duane Hills, Deputy Zoo Director for the Cameron Park Zoo.
They’re getting used to the weather in Waco during the summer ahead of the debut of the penguin shores zoo exhibit.
“We wanted to make sure they were acclimated and plus they have to have a quarantine period," Hills said.
"Whenever we receive a new animal, they undergo about 30 days of quarantine to make sure they’re not carrying any infectious disease or anything that can spread to the other animals in our population."
Who are the new feathered friends and how are they taking to the Texas heat?
“They are African penguins, they are native to the southern coast of Africa, so when you look at where they are naturally, the temperature is pretty comparable to what you find here in Waco, plus, these individual birds came from Fort Worth, so they’re already acclimated to specifically Texas heat,” Hills said.
22 of them transferred from the Fort Worth Zoo: 11 girls with purple name tags, 11 boys with red.
“We are looking to breed — they are currently endangered, their numbers have declined drastically," Hills said.
"Over the last 100 years, their populations have declined by about 90 percent, so we definitely want to do our part to make sure these animals don’t become extinct and they can stay around for a really long time."
They're sticking around to enjoy the life that the enclosure offers.
“We have a very elaborate life support system, which is in back of house — that’s how we moderate temperature , we clean the water, so, that’s how we maintain its clarity. Currently this temperature is at 55 degrees,” Hills said.
The goal is to educate Central Texas about the new feathered friends.
“We can tell the story, get to know the 22 penguins that we have here, and then we can tell their story and talk about why wildlife conservation is so important,” Hills said.
