A £500,000 habitat has been created to house a colony of Humboldt penguins at a Midlands tourist attraction.

West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley has officially opened its new Penguin Cove exhibit – the latest in a series of improvements to the site over the past year.

The cove has been built in  the Discovery Trail area of the park and designed to provide the penguins with a habitat similar to their native South America.

Nesting areas, a pool with semi-submerged beach, a waterfall and sculptures all form part of the new habitat.

There is also a penguin house and glass-fronted viewing areas where visitors will be able to watch the penguins as they swim under water.

The 14-strong colony of penguins arrived at the park in October and moved into the new exhibit last week.

As part of the new exhibit, digital information screens have been installed and staff will give talks about the penguins and the habitat. Feeding opportunities are also being planned for the future.

The park’s director of wildlife Bob Lawrence said: “This is yet another major exhibit which has been introduced at the safari park for 2011,” he said. “The first development was the African village,  followed by the Walking with Lemurs and Meerkat Mayhem exhibits which have all proved to be very popular.”

Mr Lawrence said this was the first time a major exhibit to be opened specifically to tie-in with the winter season and would fit in nicely with the site’s traditional Santa Safari.

Park spokesman Wendy Jackson said the penguins had taken to their new habitat straight away. “They absolutely adore their new environment which has been tailored to their regular habitat. They seem really happy at the cove.