Phila. Zoo Joins In Next Week's Celebration of 'Penguin Awareness Day'
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Penguins all around the world will be celebrated on Monday, January 20th, which has been designated International Penguin Awareness Day.
"I think a common misconception is that they all live in the snow and ice," says Dr. Aliza Baltz, curator of birds at the Philadelphia Zoo. "A lot of the species actually live in climate that's not that much different from where we are. You can find them in New Zealand and Australia, along the coast of Africa and South America. In fact, there's a species of penguin that lives as far north, as close to the equator, as the Galapagos."
(Kuznits:) "Where are the Philadelphia Zoo penguins from?"
(Baltz:) "They live along the coast of South America, right off the coast of Chile and Peru."
Dr. Baltz says this time of year is an interesting time to come and watch the penguins in their habitat.
"Our birds, right now they're just getting ready to start to breed, so come on out and cheer them on," she says.