Canada’s bitter weather has even penguins coming out of the cold

January 02, 2018 - 11:09

Just how cold is it in Canada? Ask the penguins at the Calgary zoo: Even they have had to take shelter.

King penguins generally don’t mind winter weather, as this file photo from a Japanese zoo attests, but zookeepers in bitterly cold Calgary, Canada had to draw a line in the snow and bring their 10 kings indoors. AFP Photo
Viet Nam News

MONTREALJust how cold is it in Canada? Ask the penguins at the Calgary zoo: Even they have had to take shelter.

King penguinsone of five species at the zoo in western Alberta provinceare certainly accustomed to chilly weather, more so than species like the Humboldt that prefer somewhat warmer climes, said zoo curator Malu Celli.

But with a cold snap pushing temperatures below minus 30oC on New Year’s Eveand feeling more like minus 40 in the windand with one five-month-old penguin chick still maturing, zoo officials decided to draw a line in the snow on Sunday, setting minus 25 as the birds’ limit.

They brought the 10 kings into their heated enclosure, where they can still be viewed by humans brave enough to be out.

Across Canada, planned New Year’s Eve festivities in several citiesfor humans, that iswere moved indoors amid a particularly brutal cold snap. For nearly a week, most of Canada has been under an extreme cold alert.

At midday Monday, the country’s coldest temperature was registered in Eureka, in northern Nunavut territory, at minus 40.5 degrees. The highest was in Prince Rupert, in the western province of British Colombia, at minus 7.5 degrees.

But Environment Canada promised "a gradual warming trend... (and) more seasonable temperatures by Tuesday."

It suggested dressing in warm layers "that you can remove if you get too warm"a luxury penguins don’t have. — AFP

E-paper