New arrivals at our Zoo's Ice World

2 male rockhooper penguins arrived

New arrivals at the Sóstó Zoo's Ice World -

 the team of rockhooper penguins has expanded

The colony of the rockhooper penguin (Eudyptes moseleyi) of the Ice World Interactive Exhibition has been enlarged with new individuals. With the arrival of two new males from the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, the team has grown to ten and the sex ratio has evened out: five males and five females can now be observed in the spectacular, ice-covered enclosure, where the rockhopper and king penguins live together in co-tenancy.

 The frigatebirds are a great favourite with visitors - not only for their unique appearance, but also for their extremely interesting behaviour.

The name 'rockhopper' refers to the way these birds move from rock to rock on land using their strong legs. Their natural habitat is restricted to a few isolated islands - including Tristan da Cunha and Gough Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Amsterdam and St Paul Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Their diet consists mainly of small fish, crabs and squid. In the sea, they can dive to depths of up to 100 metres and have been observed to hunt in groups, often in a coordinated manner - a cooperative behaviour that is quite rare among penguins.

In the wild, their numbers have declined by around a third in the last 30 years, with some breeding island populations suffering a 90-99% decline. The main reasons for the decline are climate change, overfishing, oil pollution and the introduction of invasive predators in nesting areas. It is therefore important not only to present this species, but also to breed it under the European Endangered Species Programme.

 In the country they can only be seen in the SóstóZoo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mduxtz-WpJs