Overview
- The cross-party letter to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds asks for an urgent assessment and for relocation to be considered if the penguins’ needs are not being met.
- Campaigners allege the 15 gentoo penguins are kept in a windowless underground space without daylight or fresh air, with a pool about 2.1 metres deep, and say some birds have spent 14 years there.
- Merlin Entertainments says the habitat is on the ground floor, was designed with specialist vets, provides climate-controlled conditions and filtered fresh air, and meets the Standards of Modern Zoo Practice with external assessments.
- A petition by Freedom For Animals has surpassed 37,000 signatures, and recent protests have drawn support from high-profile figures including Chris Packham and Feargal Sharkey.
- DEFRA says it has launched an overhaul of zoo welfare standards, and one MP warned that more action will follow if no progress is made on reviewing the penguins’ care.