Zoo penguins main attraction at Winter Blast

LeeAnn Goette, education outreach keeper at the Little Rock Zoo, talks to people about Samson, a 7 year-old African male penguin, during the Winter Blast event Friday at the Museum of Discovery.
LeeAnn Goette, education outreach keeper at the Little Rock Zoo, talks to people about Samson, a 7 year-old African male penguin, during the Winter Blast event Friday at the Museum of Discovery.

photo

Tursa Faulkner of Little Rock helps her children Izzy, 5, and Ivy, 3, craft snowflakes Friday at the Museum of Discovery's Winter Blast event.

Penguins from the Little Rock Zoo stole the show at the Museum of Discovery's Winter Blast event Friday.

Almost 1,000 people attended the event, many waiting in a long line for a chance to snap a photo with the penguins.

"Today is a busy day; it normally is when we have special events like this," museum Director of Visitor Experience Kevin Delaney said. "We don't always have as big a stars like the penguins."

People who got to see the penguins during the hour the animals were on display were surprised to find out that they are not cold-climate animals, said LeeAnn Goette, the zoo's education outreach keeper.

"These are warm-climate penguins from the coast of Africa. You won't find them around snow or ice like you would expect to," Goette said. "These guys actually prefer temperatures around 50 to 80 degrees."

Samson, a 7-year-old male African penguin, and Phoenix, a baby female African penguin, entertained young children and adults alike at the winter event. No one was allowed to pet the penguins because they will bite.

Other features at Winter Blast included a hot chocolate bar, a snowflake crystallization demonstration, blubber demonstration, other winter demonstrations each hour and snowflake crafting.

"We wanted to do some sort of winter event to celebrate the cold weather, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate cold weather than by the thing that people think of, when they think of cold: penguins," Delaney said.

Goette invited anyone who missed the penguins to visit the zoo and learn more about the warm-climate animals.

Upcoming Events