Calgary Zoo unable to find cause of ‘extraordinary and tragic’ penguin deaths
Posted Jan 19, 2017 10:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY – The Calgary Zoo says an investigation was unable to find out what caused the deaths of seven Humboldt penguins last month.
Director of animal care Jamie Dorgan says the zoo did detailed interviews and consulted with outside experts into what he calls an extraordinary and tragic event.
Dorgan says penguins normally roost quietly throughout the night, but it appears that something frightened them overnight on December 7, causing them to suddenly jump into one of two pools in their holding area.
Seven of the zoo’s 22 penguins were unable to get out safely and a necropsy determined that they died from drowning.
Despite finding no definitive cause for the deaths, the zoo says it is taking steps to make sure something similar doesn’t happen again.
It is restricting access to pools in the back holding areas when staff aren’t present, limiting the number of birds that can be in the holding areas, looking into potential physical changes to the pools and changing lighting.
