At a Penguin ‘Retirement Home,' a Slower Pace and Plenty of Fish

New York Times

16-03-2025

Good etiquette is expected at meal time in the penguin colony, but the diners with the best manners are found on a new, special island for birds of a certain age.
There, geriatric African penguins don't have to worry about younger birds bombarding the buckets of fish delivered by trainers at the New England Aquarium in Boston.
'They all get a good opportunity to eat and take their time and not feel rushed, not get pushed off the island by another animal that's anxious to eat,' said Kristen McMahon, the aquarium's curator of pinnipeds and penguins.
Six seabirds have moved to the island for 'retired' penguins since it opened in February. Their relocation is meant to address the large number of penguins at the aquarium who are living well beyond the age they would be expected to reach in the wild. About half of the aquarium's 40 African penguins are older than the bird's life expectancy of 10 to 15 years, Ms. McMahon said, and some have doubled it.
The residents of what Ms. McMahon described as a 'country club for older animals' are sectioned off from three other islands inhabited by youngsters via a mesh gate in the water.
They can still see their fellow seabirds, but from the remove of a craggy rock island that has less pecking and noise.
'The birds are definitely quieter, there's less territoriality,' said Ms. McMahon. 'There's a little bit more laying down and resting.'
The geriatric penguins, who are mostly in their 30s, receive close monitoring for ailments such as cataracts and arthritis. They are fed fish that have been injected with extra water to promote kidney health, and they get treatments such as eye drops and physical therapy. Some even get acupuncture.
'We wanted a space that was a little bit lower paced and more easily observed by the veterinarian team and our training team on a daily basis,' Ms. McMahon said.
African penguins are a critically endangered species, and conservationists say that they could become extinct by 2035. Wild penguins are found in the coastal waters of South Africa and Namibia, where they face threats that include the depletion of food from overfishing, climate change and pollution.
The life expectancy for wild African penguins likely does not reflect the reality for the species today, said Christina Hagen, the Pamela Isdell Fellow of Penguin Conservation at the organization BirdLife South Africa. (The group is attempting to establish an African penguin colony in the wild.)
'The population is experiencing a high level of adult mortality, so it's likely that they aren't living that long,' Ms. Hagen said.
The New England Aquarium, a nonprofit conservation and research institution that is home to more than 10,000 marine animals, participates in efforts to protect and restore the wild African penguin populations. They sent one of their trainers to South Africa last year to help rehabilitate rescued wild African penguins and plan to send another trainer this year.
The penguins at New England Aquarium are able to live so much longer because they do not face the same threats as wild birds and receive specialized care, such as acupuncture.
Dr. Melissa Joblon, the aquarium's director of animal health, said the acupuncture treatments, which are rare, are for penguins with arthritis in their spines, which causes them to stiffen and walk less.
The penguins are placed on a small table in a room with the lights turned down. The acupuncturist, who also does work on humans, places the needles on the penguin's backs, hips and sometimes on the tops of their heads. 'Some of them just go right to sleep with that,' Dr. Joblon said.
One of the penguins on the retirement island, and another who is about to move in, have undergone surgery to remove one of their eyes.
Dr. Joblon said the penguin Lambert, 32, had glaucoma that was causing pain and not getting better before his surgery. On the island for retired penguins, he has been able to chase his partner, Dyer, 14, around and become more comfortable navigating. 'He'll kind of bounce around the island like a younger bird,' she said.
One other couple lives on the island (Harlequin, 32, and Durban, 31) and so do two females without mates (Boulder, 34, and Isis, 29). One of the females, Isis, had struggled to find her own space on the main colony while getting pushed around by more dominant birds. 'This is an area that she can build her own space and feel more comfortable, hopefully, in her own home,' Dr. Joblon said.
Aquarium workers are looking at ways to modify the island to make it easier for penguins with limited mobility to get around. They also hope it can be a useful space for younger birds to recover from medical issues.
The aquarium's oldest African penguin, Good Hope, 35, and his mate, St. Croix, 23, are set to move to the island soon. After that, the aquarium does not have plans to move in other birds, Ms. McMahon said, and the plan is to let this group 'live in harmony.'