Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The luckiest penguin

 The crazy bird lady in me adores penguins and I had to share this heartwarming story as soon as I read it.

To summarize:  Lucky is a Humboldt penguin who lives at the Santa Barbara zoo.  Humboldt penguins originate in the Pacific coast of South America and are considered "vulnerable", one stage before "endangered".  When Lucky began walking, the zookeepers noticed that he had splayed legs which did not respond to treatment.  When he walked, he would put pressure on the wrong parts of his foot, resulting in sores.  They contacted Teva, the popular outdoor shoe company, who had helped out with an elephant in a previous incident and they created a special boot for Lucky!  It is lightweight, water resistant, comfortable and provides traction so he won't slip when he goes in and out of the water.  The boots are changed out daily to be washed and Teva has promised a lifetime supply.

Just when I thought penguins couldn't get any cuter...



5 comments:

  1. That is the cutest thing ever! It is so nice to know that he is comfortable. And a stylish penguin!

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  2. OH MY GOODNESS! That is ADORABLE!

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  3. Seriously Sweet!!!!!
    I love how they even put the logo on the boot! It's amazing how far we've come in this world when a big company like Teva comes to the rescue of one little penguin's foot!

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  4. Ohhh poor little baby
    Such a cutie!

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  5. Seriously considering going to SB to see him in person!

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