Our African Black-Footed penguins (the same penguins that went to our Putt for Penguins event a couple days ago) love to paint! We can only let one penguin paint at a time, so we have to set up a small barrier to designate a "painting area" for the penguins. Then, we place the canvases on the ground and get a thin layer of paint on the ground, too. We then pick a penguin, set them down in the paint so it gets all over their feet, and we let them run across the canvases!
We have 8 African penguins and all of them will paint, but not all of them love it. So I am always careful to pick the penguins who enjoy it the most. Our penguins are all girls, and their names are Randi, Paula, Simon, Blueberry, Red Pepper, Green Bean, Speckles and Sandy. Simon and Blueberry LOVE to paint, so I usually involve them the most. Speckles also LOVES to paint, but Speckles gets a little too excited when she paints and it can get a little smeary (it almost looks like a 2 year old finger-painting for the first time...).
So, why do we paint with the penguins? For two reasons...
1.) For Enrichment. Enrichment is something different and fun that the animals don't get to do every day. The purpose of enrichment is to enhance the animal's activity and provide mental stimulation for them. Painting not only allows the penguins to experience different textures and colors (they are very visual animals), but they also get "special" one on one time with their keepers/handlers since only one penguin is allowed to paint at a time.
2.) For Conservation. We actually take the artwork that is made and we sell it in the Newport Aquarium's gift shop and online at the WAVE Foundation's website at http://www.wavefoundation.org/support/animal-artwork/. Proceeds from the artwork benefit the WAVE Foundation's conservation and education programs. The African penguins are actually an endangered species and the WAVE Foundation supports the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in South Africa to help the conservation of the African Penguin and other shore birds.
For more information about what the WAVE Foundation does to support conservation and education initiatives, check out the "Support" link on our webpage at http://www.wavefoundation.org/support/.
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| This is Simon painting. She has such pretty foot prints! |
Blueberry is another good painter, but sometimes she would rather sit next to me instead of paint...
Once the barrier comes down, the braver penguins often go "investigate" the leftover paint! This is Blueberry again checking everything out.
That is so cool! Are you sure that the penguins don't mind doing this or its not hurting them by putting their feet in paint?
ReplyDeleteThat are great questions! Most of the penguins LOVE to paint! Like I mentioned above, not all of them seem to enjoy it (they seemed bored by it...), so I always let the penguins make the decision if they feel like painting. That might seem a little odd, but we give them the choice! Most of them get extremely excited at the sight of the paint and know exactly what to do. I feel that painting should always be fun for them and not a chore or something for them to fear or be bored by.
ReplyDeleteAnd the paint most certainly doesn't hurt them in any way! It is non-toxic and we actually clean their feet thoroughly when we are finished painting (and painting only takes about 20-30 minutes, so it is quick!). You can tell in the picture above (of Blueberry the penguin standing in the paint when the painting was finished) that the penguins are curious about the paint. I think the texture/consistency might be interesting for them.
Thanks for asking these questions! I hope that all makes sense!