Painting with Penguins

from Wild Magazine - Fall 2020

ZOO-A-THON

Painting with a Tuxedo Twist

By Larkin Johansen, Senior Herp/Bird Keeper

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens’ Magellanic penguins undisputedly love a handful of things: fish, their chicks, human admirers, and painting! A fun enrichment activity, painting allows the participating penguins free-choice in color selection and painting style to create a unique piece of artwork.

Painting with Penguins is an exciting and relatively new conservation fundraising event reserved just for our Members. While guests paint background colors onto the canvas, they enjoy a charcuterie board of delicacies with wine, beer, or other beverages, and a presentation put together by the primary penguin keeper on our Zoo's approach to penguin conservation.

After the presentation, our special penguin artists join the Members and the painting portion of the event begins. Guests delight as penguins stomp, step, and slip through paint. They mark their unique footprints and tail swipes across the guests’ painted canvases. Afterward, Members can interact with the penguins and talk with the keepers to learn more about our penguin colony, the penguin artists, and the plight of their wild counterparts.

A portion of the proceeds from the event goes to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), a non-profit rehabilitation, conservation, and research center in South Africa that we have partnered with to help save injured, ill, and orphaned seabirds.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next time we are Painting with Penguins! This event is truly special as it gives Members the rare experience to be up-close with our charismatic penguins and a treasured keepsake to take home. For the penguins, it enriches their lives and provides the essential funding to help preserve this critically endangered species from extinction in the wild.