Global penguin-cam for zoo favourites
Animal lovers around the world can enjoy a bird's eye view of one of Dudley Zoo's endangered species thanks to a new penguin-cam.
Footage of the colony of 70 Humboldt's penguins can also be seen live across the globe on the zoo's website.
A camera has been set up in the enclosure housing with live video footage being relayed on to a screen in the Discovery Centre.
It monitors the penguins 24 hours a day and can be moved around the enclosure for a different view of the birds' comings and goings. As well as the Discovery Centre screen, the footage can be viewed on the DZG website www.dudleyzoo.org.uk
Marketing manager Julia Lockett said the zoo had spent £3,000 setting up the hi-tech camera system.
"The penguins are always popular with our visitors as they are very active, and the web-cam helps the public get closer to them," she said.
"The intention is to eventually put the camera in one of the nest boxes so people can see penguin chicks hatching.
"It can also be used by keepers to monitor the behaviour of pregnant animals in the days leading up to, and after, the birth to make sure everything goes smoothly." A surprise email from a schoolteacher in Canada prompted Dudley Zoo staff to fix the web-cam in record time when it suffered a technical fault last week.
Ms Lockett said: "We lost the link for a couple of days, but when we received an email from a school in Ontario saying that Dudley Zoo's penguin-cam had become daily viewing for the schoolchildren, and asking for it to be reinstated before they broke up for summer holidays, we pulled out all the stops to get it sorted."
The email from teacher Charlotte Cornell said: "The students were so excited. Every penguin movement brings squeals of excitement."
