Tiny fairy penguin is a big thing at the
Bronx Zoo
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 08.09.16
Word Count 502
Little penguin (Eudyptula minor) family exiting burrow at night on Bruny Island in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: Wikimedia
Commons
For the first time ever, a fairy penguin was born at the Bronx Zoo in New York. In May, the
world-famous zoo welcomed the little fuzzball bird. The fairy penguin weighed only 25
grams when it hatched. This is about as heavy as a AA battery.
The bird is still too young to know whether it is a boy or girl. By late July, though, the animal
was big enough to join the other fairy penguins at the zoo.
Fairy penguins are also known as little penguins. Sometimes they are called blue
penguins. They are small. They grow fast. A few days after it hatched, one of the workers
at the zoo exclaimed, "You're huge!" The bird has already almost doubled its weight.
Talking It Up
Still, "little penguin" is a good name for these birds. This type of penguin is the smallest of
the 18 different penguin types. They grow to only about 13 inches tall. The most they weigh
is about 3 pounds. The penguins are chatty animals that like to be together. They eat
squid, fish and other small sea life. They dig holes in the sand to lay their eggs.
The other fairy penguins living at the Bronx Zoo came from Australia. They are part of a
breeding program. They were born at the Taronga Zoo in the city of Sydney. Breeding
programs like this one help conserve groups of animals that are in danger.
Fairy penguins in the wild are not in as much danger as some other animals. Still, the
number of fairy penguins is getting smaller. Coastal oil spills, damage to their land in
nature and hungry wild cats are reducing the number of fairy penguins. Hunters poached
the penguins in the 1980s and 1990s. They used the bird meat as bait for crayfish.
There are many programs trying to help the fairy penguins.
Boston Plays Host
There are other fairy penguins in the United States. They live at an aquarium in Boston,
Massachusetts. In Australia, two dozen penguins were born in a protected setting. In 2007,
they were released to live back in the wild.
A group in Australia trained guard dogs to protect the penguins living in the wild there.
About 10 years ago, foxes on an island near Victoria were hunting the fairy penguins.
Almost all the birds disappeared.
"We went from a point where we had around 800 penguins down to where we could only
find four," said Peter Abbott in 2015. He works with a group to protect the penguins. The
program was a success, Abbott. said. There are about 200 fairy penguins. One of the
guard dogs named Oddball even inspired a movie.
Special Care
Meanwhile, there is a special fairy penguin living in New Zealand, an island country near
Australia. It is a blind fairy penguin named Blindy. Shireen and Francis Helps look after
Blindy. They have been caring for penguins since 1974. Shireen is teaching Blindy to swim
safely.
"It's really learning very well," Shireen Helps said.
Quiz
1
Which sentence from the article is MOST important to include in its summary?
2
What is the focus of the section "Boston Plays Host"?
3
(A)
what the Boston aquarium does for the fairy penguins
(B)
how the fairy penguins behave in the wild
(C)
how the story of the fairy penguins was made into a movie
(D)
how Australia protects its fairy penguins
Read the sentence from the section "Talking It Up."
Breeding programs like this one help conserve groups of animals that
are in danger.
What does "conserve" mean in the sentence?
4
(A)
feed
(B)
protect
(C)
prevent change
(D)
send into the wild
Read the following sentences from the section "Talking It Up."
Hunters poached the penguins in the 1980s and 1990s. They used the
bird meat as bait for crayfish.
Which word from the selection BEST helps you understand the meaning of "poached"?
(A)
hunters
(B)
penguins
(C)
bait
(D)
crayfish
Answer Key
1
Which sentence from the article is MOST important to include in its summary?
2
What is the focus of the section "Boston Plays Host"?
3
(A)
what the Boston aquarium does for the fairy penguins
(B)
how the fairy penguins behave in the wild
(C)
how the story of the fairy penguins was made into a movie
(D)
how Australia protects its fairy penguins
Read the sentence from the section "Talking It Up."
Breeding programs like this one help conserve groups of animals that
are in danger.
What does "conserve" mean in the sentence?
4
(A)
feed
(B)
protect
(C)
prevent change
(D)
send into the wild
Read the following sentences from the section "Talking It Up."
Hunters poached the penguins in the 1980s and 1990s. They used the
bird meat as bait for crayfish.
Which word from the selection BEST helps you understand the meaning of "poached"?
(A)
hunters
(B)
penguins
(C)
bait
(D)
crayfish