We have a large colony of gentoo penguins here at Edinburgh Zoo, with almost 100 living at Penguins Rock!

They may all look very similar, but each penguin has distinct personality and they are well known by our keepers who use different coloured flipper bands to help tell them apart - male penguins have bands on their right flipper, and females on the left.

Notable individuals include Snowflake, who is leucisitic (see if you can spot his pale feathers!), and Kevin, who has been banned from Penguin Parade for bad behaviour (please be aware the parade is postponed until further notice as part of current safety measures).

Did you know it costs £130 a day to feed our penguin colony? You can help feed our penguins and protect threatened wildlife around the world by donating today - if you can, please support our Survival Fund.

FUN FACTS

• Gentoo penguins can dive to depths of 665ft and remain underwater for seven minutes

• While swimming, they can reach speeds of up to 22mph (36kmph)

• Adult gentoos will dive to look for food up to 450 times a day

• During breeding season, both males and female will take turns incubating the eggs in their nests

HOW WE'RE HELPING

Our gentoo penguins are managed by the European Stud Book programme, this is managed by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

As a wildlife conservation charity, we care for both the animals here at the zoo and work to protect endangered species around the world.

From providing genetics expertise and veterinary health, to protecting wild places with local conservation partners, and even restoring threatened species to the wild, we are active where we are needed most.

Penguin species face many threats in the wild, including global warming, over-fishing, marine pollution and habitat loss. We are part of Project Pinnamin, a conservation project helping northern rockhopper penguins in their native habitat.

Find out more about penguin conservation.