Whirlpool! (Life/Animal Behavior).Six newcomers to the San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo, (previously Fleishhacker Zoo) is a zoo in San Francisco, California housing more than 250 different animal species. It is located in the southwestern corner of the city, between the Great Highway and Lake Merced. made an unexpected splash last December. Upon arrival, the Magellanic penguins from SeaWorld in Ohio promptly plunged into the penguin pool. And much to penguin-keeper Jane Tollini's surprise, "In one hour, the zoo's 46 other penguins--from babies to old geezers--left their burrows and dove in the pool, too." Since then, all the seabirds have been swimming into exhaustion. What gives? In the wild, Magellanic penguins live on the southernmost coasts of South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and migrate every fall: They set off on a 5-month-long swimfest north to warm waters off Brazil, where they fatten up Verb 1. fatten up - make fat or plump; "We will plump out that poor starving child" fat, fatten, fatten out, flesh out, plump out, plump, fill out alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile on fish before swimming back home to mate and molt (shed all their feathers). Molting molting, periodical shedding and renewal of the outer skin, exoskeleton, fur, or feathers of an animal. In most animals the process is triggered by secretions of the thyroid and pituitary glands. is an essential function, as the birds' oily, waterproof feathers wear out during the year. The six Ohio penguins routinely embarked on a mock migration in their SeaWorld pool every winter, Tollini explains. But the San Francisco Zoo's penguins wintered in nesting-burrows. "Swimming is natural penguin behavior--but not in the 19 years penguins have been at this zoo," she says. So how did the "Ohio six" manage to change the San Francisco flock's habits? "It's beyond me," Tollini admits. There may be a simple answer, says Ken Ramirez of Chicago's Shedd Aquarium: Penguins are social birds and behave as a group. When the Ohio six started swimming, the others' instincts (inherited behavior tendencies) told them to join in. "It's like a conga line," says Tollini--who hopes the birds quit before spring. PENGUINS ON THE GO Speniscus magellanicus inhabit the southern costs of South America. If the seabirds torpedo through the water at 15 miles per hour, how long would it take them to migrate from Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (tyĕ`rä dĕl fwā`gō), [Span.=land of fire], archipelago, 28,476 sq mi (73,753 sq km), off S South America, separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan. to Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, city, Brazil Rio de Janeiro (rē`ō də zhänā`rō, Port. rē`  thĭ zhənĕē`r ? FACTS * Height: 18 inches * Weight: 6-7 pounds * Life span: 25 years in the wild, 30 years in captivity * Diet: Squid, cuttlefish cuttlefish, common name applied to cephalopod mollusks that have 10 tentacles, or arms, 8 of which have muscular suction cups on their inner surface and 2 that are longer and can shoot out for grasping prey, and a reduced internal shell enbedded in the enveloping , sardines in the wild; herring and smelt at the S.F. Zoo |
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