I spent the last half-hour of this work day standing on a frozen section of creek, pounding away at the ice that I was (ill-advisedly) standing on with a sledgehammer. My mission? To open up the creek beneath me so that our zoo's swans and cranes could have access to open water. At one point, I bent down and picked up a recently dislodged section of ice. It was four inches thick. It was at that point, I realized... it's really cold.
I'm glad to see that the Calgary Zoo agrees with that assessment. I'd also like to point on that the penguins mentioned in this article aren't Humboldt or African penguins, species native to the temperate zone which are commonly kept in zoos. These are king penguins, found in the sub-Antarctic - penguins made for some of the coldest, least pleasant weather on earth.
While admitting that their birds are probably physically capable of standing up to Canada's worst, the Calgary Zoo does have reason to play it a little cautious this time - they have a chick in their flock. Hopefully, baby's future winters are a little more enjoyable than this one.
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