Increasing Space and Habitat Complexity for King Penguin Welfare
The Detroit Zoo’s Penguinarium opened in 1968 as a state-of-the-art habitat, but eventually the time came to build a more modern facility. The Zoo opened the Polk Penguin Conservation Center (PPCC) in 2016, representing the DZS’s commitment to ensuring animal care practices advance and evolve with our increasing access to new technologies and better understanding of animal welfare. A larger and more complex habitat, the PPCC measures over 32,000 ft2 and boasts a 326,000 gallon pool, as well as varying substrates, nesting sites and underwater features. We undertook behavioral monitoring of ten king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) between 2015-2022 as they moved between the two buildings. This data collection included application of flipper-mounted time-depth recorders, a new technology that allowed us to track 24-hour patterns of swimming and dive depths. Our years of research resulted in hundreds of hours of behavioral observations and thousands of hours of swimming data, all of which came together to tell a very meaningful story. The king penguins substantially increased their time spent swimming and were observed engaging in more positive social behaviors and less negative social behaviors after moving to the PPCC. These multiple indicators of improved welfare demonstrate the PPCC is not just an aesthetically beautiful space, but a significant welfare advancement for the penguins residing at the Detroit Zoo.