AAQ and the Little Blues
The number of facilities in the US that have Little Blues as permanent residents
What is 6?
What AAQ will transfer penguins based on
What are the Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendations?
How many biologists it takes to feed the penguins
What is 2, one to record and one to hand feed?
How penguins eat without teeth
What is not chewing, instead using fleshy barbs that help guide fish to their stomach, which their stomach acid is strong enough to break down whole, scales and bones and all?
Enrichment
Bonus: five enrichment categories
What is something that is added to an animal's environment that encourage them to exhibit natural behaviors and stimulate their minds?
Bonus: What are habitat, cognitive/training, sensory, food, and Environmental Enrichment Devices (EEDs)?
The number of penguins in AAQ's colony
What is 20?
The Species Survival Plan's purpose
What is "this is a collaborative effort between AZA institutions to increase genetic diversity and breed healthy populations under human care"?
Four reasons we record what they eat
What is "in order to:
-Track what and how much each bird is eating
-Track delivery of any vitamins or medicine a bird may require
-Inform the biologists about when the birds are getting ready to molt or when a female might be getting ready to lay
-Target or hand feeds in an aquarium setting allow us to keep these detailed records which are an invaluable asset in keeping track of the overall health of our animals"?
The reason the Little Blues eat smaller fish than our African Penguins
What is their smaller overall size? (they can generally eat anything that can fit past their beak)
Types of habitat enrichment and an example of of cognitive/training enrichment
What are hides, climbing structures, new plants, objects in the pool, etc? What is voluntarily stepping onto the scale for a weight check?
What is the Taronga Zoo in Australia?
The numbers of the 6 penguins transferred in June 2022, and where they were transferred to
Who are 2, 6, 7, 12, 15 and 16? What is the Cincinnati Zoo?
Little Blue Penguins' diet in Australia
About how much they consume per day in Australia
What is about 20% of their body weight per day?
Two types of sensory enrichment and a description of food enrichment
What are smells and textures? What are new food items or a new way of offering food?
The place from which #10 and #11 came to us
What is New England Aquarium?
The numbers of the 3 penguins transferred in November 2023, and where they were transferred to
Who are 25, 26, and 27? What is the Birch Aquarium in California?
What Little Blue Penguins receive at AAQ
What are capelin and anchovies, along with a rotation of silversides, French herring, Pacific herring, sardines, and smelt?
A comparison to put Little Blue Penguins' daily diets in Australia into perspective
What is like a 100lb person eating 80 quarter pounders a day?
Environmental Enrichment Devices (EDDs)
What are objects in their space that the penguins can choose whether to interact with
The number of Little Blue Penguins that hatched here
Bonus: The numbers of those penguins
What is 16?
Bonus: What are 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, and this year's three?
What you can check for names and hatch dates based on their bands for identification
What is the chart?
A description of the fish AAQ feeds them in relation to nutrients and the process to ensure each penguin gets the nutrients they need
What is "fish are always restaurant quality, but they are flash-frozen and then thawed, and may lose some nutritional value during this process, so you may see our biologists adding pills or using a syringe to add liquid medication to the fish before feeding certain birds -- every penguin gets a multivitamin every day, and some of our older birds get supplements for their joints/mobility"?
How much AAQ's Little Blue Penguins eat compared to those in Australia
What is not quite that much, but they also don't burn as many calories swimming, catching food, & evading predators all day, so their nutritional and calorie needs are met appropriately?
Does enrichment need to be offered every day?
Where can you find out today's enrichment option?
No, so that it does not become overstimulating for the birds
The signage to the right of the exhibit, if applicable