![]() In addition to the penguins, puffins from the Northern Hemisphere make their new home at Taylor Family Puffin Bay. ![]() Within the dome-covered exhibit, theatrical lighting simulates the reversed seasons of the Southern Hemisphere – what the birds are accustomed to in their natural habitat. Ultimately, the colony will grow to 100 birds. This display is the home to 70 animals representing three penguin species – King, Rockhopper and Gentoo. Sophisticated filtration and climate systems will keep the water clean and maintain the environment at a constant 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The Penguin Cove is the first walk-through sub-Antarctic penguin exhibit ever in a North American zoo. This allows for intimate and unobstructed views of the birds as they swim, climb and socialize. Visitors pass through the new animal homes with only acrylic railings as barriers. The Humboldt penguins share their habitat with several elegant brown pelicans, a common Peruvian coastal neighbor.Īfter visiting the Humboldt penguins, visitors enter two domed indoor rockscapes, both depicting rugged naturalistic coastlines. This outdoor exhibit is the new home to about 30 Humboldt penguins, an endangered species of penguins that are used to drier climates. One of the historic Bear Pits, constructed back in 1922, has been transformed into this grand entrance to Penguin and Puffin Coast. The first stop on the tour is a rocky outdoor exhibit with waterfall called Humboldt Haven. Of course they are so friendly, you can walk right up to them and take a picture with them – they are very realistic, life-size sculptures! One is perched near the rockwork just outside the barrier. With the generosity and support of funds donated to Penguin and Puffin Coast, the penguins, accompanied by puffins, king eiders and brown pelicans, will have a new place to call home this May!Īs visitors enter the exhibit, they are greeted by two friendly Humboldt penguins perched on the rockwork. Being a zoo favorite, the Saint Louis Zoo would frequently be asked, “When will penguins be back?” It took the zoo a commitment of four years before they could rebuild the penguins’ home – the zoo needed to raise funds for a multiphase renovation of an entire new section of the zoo next to another section of the zoo called “Fragile Forest.” The new Penguin and Puffin home is located in the north part of the Zoo near the popular grizzly bears and polar bears. In fact, several years ago, the zoo needed to loan out its penguin populations in order to demolish and eventually replace the original 1960’s building in which the population was cared for. To give you some background into how this project all began, here is a little zoo history: This is not the first penguin exhibit at the Saint Louis Zoo. After about a half-hour of discussion about the new exhibit, the scope of potential work involved, the field of scientific illustration, and some of my professional experiences, I let her know I’d be interested in helping out. Liz had decided to “cold call” a number of studios, and since I was one of the first calls she made, she inquired about the process of how to work with a scientific illustrator on the new exhibit. In addition, the design group planned to build an interactive hands-on display with multiple panels which would teach visitors about the birds as they walked through the exhibit. Included in the design were to be one outdoor and two large indoor naturalistic habitats for the birds. Liz Reinus, an Interpretive Exhibits Coordinator in the zoo’s Education Department, called regarding a new exhibit the zoo was in the midst of ground-breaking called “Penguin and Puffin Coast.” The zoo had already hired an architect and an outdoor exhibit designer to begin building a new facility which would house several species of penguins and puffins. It was December 2001 that I received a phone call from the Saint Louis Zoo.
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