With the cold temperature, the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is letting its penguins out to get some fresh air. Every weekend in January and February, the penguins come out of their enclosure and walk outside, whether it’s clear or snowy.
“We’ll bring them out to play in the snow, and it’s so nice to see them play in the snow, they actually snap at the snowflakes and it enables Pittsburgh folks to come out and see the birds,” said aquarium Curator Dwayne Biggs.
For the first 2013 Penguin Parade there was a large group of school children. The penguins are not shy. They walked up and down the line of spectators, in some cases nearly walking into people before being re-directed by zoo staff.
“We do a lot of training and we develop a positive relationship with our penguins,” said Biggs, “we’ll actually go up to the door and say, ‘hey guys, wanna go for a walk?’ They’ll hop up to us, they’re accustomed to this, it’s something we’ve been doing quite a while. Last winter was the first time we advertised for our guests to come see it.”
Biggs says the penguin parades drew record crowds.
As long as the temperatures remain below 50 degrees, the penguins will be brought out for their walks each Saturday and Sunday in January and February at 11:30 AM.
