Injured penguin watches shows of other penguins on road to recovery

Pierre, an adorable and endangered rockhopper penguin was found washed ashore on a beach in southwest Australia, according to Perth Zoo.

He was quickly rescued and taken in by the Zoo for rehabilitation, as he was suffering from feather moulting issues, meaning he is not waterproof and is unable to safely get back into the water. Whilse the Perth Zoo are doing their best to bring Pierre back to full health, he doesn’t have any of his own kind to interact with during his recovery, which can be a quite a lonely experience.

To ensure the brave little penguin doesn’t get too lonely, they decided to provide him with some virtual entertainment. This came in the form of rockhopper penguin documentaries, live streams of the rockhopper penguins in international zoos, including those in Kansas City Zoo in the USA and Edinburgh Zoo in the UK, and of course his favorite show, Pingu, which Perth Zoo say is ‘on high rotation on his watch list.’

‘As you can see in the video clips, Pierre showed some genuine interest in watching the shows on the iPad’, said Perth Zoo spokesman Jorden Teo to Business Insider.

‘He is quite an inquisitive penguin and has taken interest in most of the enrichment activities that he has experienced whilst under the care of the experts at Perth Zoo,’ added Teo.

Rockhopper penguins are known for their infectious personalities and distinctive eyebrows, and as the name implies, they prefer to hop around on rocks instead of sliding around on their bellies like their Antarctic counterparts, the Emperor Penguin. According to Perth Zoo, Rockhopper penguins are one of the rarest breeds of penguins, with a global population believed to be less than 240,300 breeding pairs.