Snow fall to add colour to penguin life

PENGUINS at Edinburgh Zoo are to come face-to-beak with a bubble machine this week as keepers think up innovative new ways to keep the creatures entertained.

Around 200 penguins will be showered with bubbles in a bid to imitate the snow fall in winter – when the birds enjoyed trying to catch the frozen flakes with their beaks.

Colin Oulton, bird section team leader, said: “Penguins are inquisitive and intelligent birds.

“We have a number of ways of providing enrichment, but the bubble machine always gets a good response. All three of our penguin species will chase the bubbles and try to catch them in their beaks.

“Other ways of providing enrichment include scattering their food across the pool, which encourages the penguins to catch food as they would in the wild.”