The New England Aquarium this winter created a unique island for geriatric penguins to get some much-needed rest and alone time.
About six African penguins currently take up the separate space, which opened in February. It serves to keep older birds away from the danger of younger, more agile birds bombarding the feeding space or knocking them over when mealtime comes. The aquarium’s curator of the penguins, Kristen McMahon, likened the space to a “country club for older animals” in an interview with the New York Times.
While African penguins typically only live to be about ten to fifteen years old, many of the birds in the space have made it to thirty years or older. This is in part thanks to the aquariums efforts to keep the penguins safe and healthy — the penguins are pampered with various treatments to help with old-age ailments, even including things like acupuncture treatments.
Some of the space’s residents include Boulders, a 34-year-old penguin with glaucoma, and Lambert, who is 32 and has a history of cataracts. Lambert’s mate Dyer, who is 14, is also present. The aquarium hopes to open the space for more penguins to arrive, including the oldest penguin of the bunch, 35-year-old Good Hope, and his mate, 23-year-old St. Croix.
“We’ve seen the birds go from doing a lot of swimming to getting up and finding their areas and calling to each other as a colony,” said Diana Major, the Aquarium’s manager of penguins, in an interview with the NEA. “They seem to be finding their spots and settling in, which is really nice to see, and we have been able to do a lot more close observation on them and start more advanced training with their medical behaviors.”
The NEA’s penguin retirement area will soon be updated to include smaller slopes for easier movement. “Being relaxed is key, and we think the new retirement home will ultimately lead to happier and healthier penguins,” Major said in a press release.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums classify African penguins as having a high risk of extinction. The species was one of the first to entire the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction plan when it was started in 2015. The NEA itself is part of the broader SAFE program, signalling that the aquarium is dedicated to learning more about the birds and spreading conservation efforts.
According to the AZA, the SAFE program’s goals are “to secure the future of a healthy African penguin population in the wild through collaborative, science-based conservation programs; secure funding and engagement of appropriate audiences through AZA and other partner institutions and organizations; [and] develop new partnerships and approaches on behalf of African penguin conservation.”
NEA trainer Nick Vitale traveled to South Africa last year to conduct field work with the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds. Together, the group helped rehabilitate wild African penguins.
“This exchange helps connect us to the bigger conservation of the species and what is going on in South Africa,” Vitale said in an interview with the Aquarium. “It says something about the Aquarium as an organization that we can have an impact so many miles from Boston.”
Correction April 28, 2025: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article misidentified the penguins in an accompanying photo. The image showed southern rockhopper penguins, not the geriatric African penguins. A corrected photo now appears at the top of this article. The original appears below with a corrected caption.
