Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium welcomes Humboldt penguins, brown pelicans

Humboldt penguins are considered vulnerable, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

There are fewer than 30,000 of the warm-weather South American birds left in the wild. Thirteen of them are now living in Kids Kingdom at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium in Highland Park.

“Penguins are near and dear to the hearts of Pittsburghers, so adding another species in addition to the Aquarium’s current population of penguins is a natural fit for both the zoo’s mission and civic pride,” said Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium president and CEO Dr. Jeremy Goodman in a statement. “The birds provide a vital conservation message concerning the plight of penguins this species faces.”

Courtesy of Gavin Anderson

There are less than 30,000 left in the wild of these warm-weather Humboldt penguins.

The penguins are located in the former sea lion pool (the sea lions were moved into a single sea lion community in Water’s Edge). The Humboldt penguins are the zoo’s third penguin species. Their colder climate cousins, gentoo and macaroni penguins, live in a habitat in the aquarium.

The Humboldt penguins came from the Philadelphia Zoo and Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo and range in age from 1-17 years old. The zoo also received a shipment of eggs from the Columbus Zoo that hatched one female, Lillie, and two male chicks, Dave and Pippin.

Named for explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, the black-and-white penguins have patches of bare pink skin around their eyes and beaks that help with heat regulation.

Courtesy of Gavin Anderson

The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium welcomed brown pelicans from the coasts of the Americas that arrived from the Seacoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores, Fla.

Joining the penguins as new arrivals are three brown pelicans from the coasts of the Americas that arrived from the Seacoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores, Fla. They have permanent wing injuries that left them unable to hunt their food correctly. The three pelicans — female Felicity and males Joey and Pierre — were deemed non-releasable by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Brown pelicans were listed as an endangered species in the 1970s but rebounded considerably and were taken off the list in 2009.