Landau 27 August 2024 - a perfect anniversary. The best (zoo) weather, lots of political celebrities including Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer and Lord Mayor Dr. Dominik Geißler and a record-breaking attendance of visitors. They all celebrated the 120th anniversary of the Landau Zoo. The celebration began with a reception, which was musically shaped by the United Concert Band under the direction of Thomas Winter. Zoo director Dr. Jens-Ove Heckel welcomed and thanked everybody, actually everbody of the zoo's long-standing companions, supporters and partners. That was challenging, but clearly demonstrated the zoo's incredibly large and wide network.
Landau August 23, 2024 – Since August 12 the second season of the weekly video podcast “Sintonía Humboldt” has been running. The way the podcast is distributed has changed with its relaunch. It is now broadcast via Sintonía Humboldt channels on YouTube, Facebook and Spotify, municipal digital media in the communities of La Higuera (El Comunal), La Serena (El Serenense) and Coquimbo (El Coquimbano) as well as the channels of cooperating organizations such as Sphenisco Chile, Defensa Ambiental Región de Coquimbo, Alianza Humboldt Coquimbo-Atacama and Red Comunales. Furthermore, the 2nd season is also sponsored by Bergzoo Halle and Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen, Netherlands.
Landau, 7. August 2024
C H I L E
+++El Niño Prevents Research+++
At the beginning of July, the New Zealand researcher Thomas Mattern wanted to travel to Chile to continue his investigations into the penguins search for food on the islands of Choros and Cachagua. In mid-June, the head of the research project, Dr. Alejandro Simeone, informed us: "We are back from the breeding islands. Unfortunately, I have to confirm that there are no Humboldt penguins breeding at the moment, neither on the island of Cachagua nor on the island of Choros. I suspect that El Niño still has a strong effect on the productivity of the sea and therefore there is no food available for the penguins.
Landau, 6. June 2024
C H I L E
+++Symbolic Bird of the Humboldt Current+++
Just in time for World Penguin Day on April 25th, Sphenisco-Chile and RedAves, together with ACOREMA and GAP in Peru, started the signature campaign "Humboldt Penguin - Symbolic Bird of the Humboldt Current". The aim of the initiative is to motivate citizens, civil society groups and authorities to publicly advocate for the protection of the Humboldt penguin and to become active.
Coquimbo, Chile; Pisco, Peru; Landau, Germany April 25, 2024.
Good News for Sphenisco on the World Penguin Day.
In Chile, the newspaper El Norte reports that the Humboldt Penguin has been declared the “symbolic bird of the Humboldt Current”. In Fort Lambert (Coquimbo) representatives of authorities and organizations from science and civil society met to proclaim the endangered Humboldt Penguin the “symbol bird of the important marine ecosystem of the Humboldt Current”.
Burnie, Nuremberg, 10 February 2024
In January of this year, we were working as volunteers for the Penguin Rehab & Release (https://www.penguinrehab.org/) Sanctuary in Burnie, Tasmania.
Penguin Rehab and Release is the only facility in North West Tasmania dedicated to the rehabilitation of penguins (and other seabirds) who come into their care due to illness, injury or exhaustion, with the aim of preparing them for a successful release.
This year has been an above-average busy season for Penguin Rehab and Release, in which 33 penguins have already been successfully cared for, overseen and released back into their natural habitat. Currently, 16 penguins are still being cared for at the facility in order to regain their health and the strength for their release. Caring for such a large number of penguins is not only time-consuming, but also costly, and the organization's resources are currently almost exhausted.
The following article is therefore not only intended to report on our experiences in the care and reintroduction of sick, injured or exhausted penguins, but is also connected with the request for donations for this organization and its highly commendable work. Donations can be made by PayPal via the following link: Donate (PayPal)
Landau, 4th February 2024
C H I L E
+++Loser of the year 2023+++
Humboldt penguins in Chile and Peru have been suffering from bird flu and El Niño for months. According to the WWF, they are therefore among the losers of 2023. Sernapesca (Chilean fishing authority) reported the discovery of 3,000 dead animals in November. This corresponds to around one third of the population. In view of this horror story, it is comforting that Humboldt penguins have the ability to reproduce more strongly after such disasters. In Peru they breed all year round, in Chile not just twice as usual, but three times. It is currently unclear what the current losses mean for the survival of this penguin species.
La Serena 8th December 2023. At the beginning of November, fishermen's and environmental organizations (1) from the coastal villages of the municipality of La Higuera, together with Alianza Humboldt, hosted an event on "the community for the Humboldt Archipelago Marine Protected Area with different uses". The aim of the small conference was to discuss the role and responsibility of citizens in the upcoming design of the Marine Conservation Zone (AMCP-MU). Representatives of fishermen, environmental organizations, water committees and the indigenous Changos community (1) were invited. Around 40 people took part and the event was sponsored by the Bergzoo in Halle.
Landau, 3 December 2023
C H I L E
+++GOOD NEWS++++++GOOD NEWS++++++GOOD NEWS+++GOOD NEWS
On November 30th , the Chilean government's decision to establish a "Marine Protected Zone of Various Uses" (AMCP-MU) was published in the Official Gazette. The publication was celebrated in the municipalities on the coast of the Humboldt Archipelago, as reported by Economia Desarrollo Regional. Now, a management plan for the protection zone can and must be drawn up within a legally prescribed period of two years. This is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Environment, represented by the Undersecretaries of State for the Environment, Natalia Penroz, for the Atacama region and Leonardo Gros for the Coquimbo region.