Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This post is part three of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a zoo conservation partner . As I look back on the time since my trip to participate in the Humboldt penguin health assessment in Peru, I feel fortunate to have been able to share my experiences with so many people.  From giving a slide presentation to zoo staff and volunteers, to including vivid details of the penguins’ native habitat in my public keeper talks and on special tours, I can draw on the memories of that incredible place and the time and experiences I had there. I began working with Humboldt penguins at the Akron Zoo in Ohio in 1998, and was immediately hooked!  I knew that these peculiar penguins were native to the desert coast of Peru and Northern Chile, they nested in burrows and their main prey was anchovies.  I learned about their behavior from ...

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This blog post is part two of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a zoo conservation partner . In part one , I blogged about the diverse wildlife I encountered on my trip to Punta San Juan in Peru where I joined zoo professionals and Peruvian biologists in conducting an annual health assessment of the wild population of Humboldt penguins . Woodland Park Zoo’s penguin exhibit, which opened in May 2009, replicates the coast of Punta San Juan, a barren desert peninsula that juts out into the South Pacific in southern Peru. Here in part two, I’ll take you through the experience of administering the health assessments on these wild penguins, a challenging annual task that is critical to establish baseline data so we can track the health and any emergent needs of this endangered population. From the field: We stood at the edge of a high c...

Posted by: John Samaras, Penguin Keeper This blog post is part one of a three-part series based on Woodland Park Zoo penguin keeper John Samaras’ work in Punta San Juan, Peru with a  zoo conservation partner . As part of Woodland Park Zoo’s continuing effort in the conservation of Humboldt penguins , I had the opportunity to travel to Punta San Juan in Peru and take part in an annual health assessment of the wild population conducted by zoo professionals and Peruvian biologists. Woodland Park Zoo’s penguin exhibit, which opened in May 2009, replicates the coast of Punta San Juan, a barren desert peninsula that juts out into the South Pacific in southern Peru. Because of its proximity to the Humboldt current (a cold water current from Antarctica rich in fish and prey species) there is an amazing abundance of life on the rocky coast. Hundreds of thousands of seabirds and tens of thousands of fur seals and sea lions, as well as a large concentration of Humboldt penguins, call th...