Special suit gives baldness the bird (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Special suit gives baldness the bird

12:10pm Friday 14th August 2009

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BALDNESS is a common enough condition, but not usually amongst penguins.

Yet that is exactly what has befallen one of the birds at Marwell Wildlife near Winchester.

Now keepers at the zoo have designed a special wetsuit for Ralph, the follicly challenged penguin.

They are worried that the Hampshire sunshine will be enough to burn the bald bird, even if the ‘barbecue summer’ promised for 2009 has been a washout.

Sunburn is not usually a problem for Marwell’s penguins, as they normally moult every year and renew their coats over several weeks.

However, Ralph, a nine-year-old Humboldt penguin, mysteriously lost his within the space of 24 hours.

With his skin exposed to the elements, his keepers decided to fashion a temporary coat for him until his feathers grew back.

They designed his new attire by using the leg of a surplus adult wetsuit, which was donated by a member of staff at the zoo.

The stretchy material lets Ralph move around as normal. After taking a few moments to adjust, he was swimming happily around in the penguin pool again, the zoo said.

David Schofield, head keeper for the penguins, said: “At first the other penguins were curious but it wasn’t long before they recognised and accepted Ralph again.

“He doesn’t seem to mind the wetsuit and is able to swim and move around normally. It was quite easy to fit and we were able to customise it by creating the extra openings for his flippers once he was in it.”

The zoo estimates that Ralph will have to wear the suit for around three weeks until enough of his new feathers have grown through.

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