TOKYO - It's wintertime and the king penguins at a zoo in northern Japan are putting on weight. But the keepers there have a solution: exercise. Authorities at Asahiyama Zoo are taking the penguins on 500-yard walks on the snowy grounds twice a day, said zoo spokesman Tetsuo Yamazaki. "Just like in humans ... the fat accumulates during the winter months, and the blood-sugar level rises," Yamazaki explained from the zoo, 570 miles northwest of Tokyo. The zoo's 15 king penguins aren't exactly obese. Penguin winter weight varies from 33 pounds to 40 pounds, said zoo official Kazunobu Maru. So far, only one of the flock is 40 pounds, he said. The reason for weight gain is natural, zoo officials say. "In order to withstand the cold, the penguins have a habit of standing very still during winter months," Yamazaki said, while in the summer they can walk around and swim as much as they want. To fend off obesity, the zoo instituted the winter exercise program in 2003. The penguins have tender webbed feet and can only walk significant distances on snow, so the program can only take place during the colder months. The zoo, on the northern island of Hokkaido, takes the penguins on strolls from December until April. The first walk of the season was Thursday. [Broken External Image]:http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20051215/capt.12150533.japan_penguins_.jpg
So I've heard! I actually bought it last week, but as a Christmas present for a family member. I was so tempted to tear the plastic wrap off it and pop it into the dvd player, but managed to refrain. I'm hoping to rent it this weekend (assuming they have some available).
With ur avatar, who doesn't think of you! I watched March of Penguins too. Made my gf laugh and cry (a little bit).
And that's why they're one of the 2 worst teams in the league (St Louis is actually worse than the Pens!) and went and fired their coach today. On a lighter note, go Stars!!
Can we be certain that this "exercise program" is not actually commando training for an evil super-villain with penguin features and tendencies? [Broken External Image]:http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/behindthescenes/photos/batreturn/penguins001.jpg
So, if I watch March of the Penguins, will I be able to find that clip in Maggieddd's avator? Is it real, or is it a homemader? Anyway, good stuff. By the way, I was at Asahiyama Zoo not too long ago with some exchange students from my home town, but we were too early for the penguin boot camp training. I'll have to go check it out one of these weekends.
About 2 hours, if the roads are ok. I live in a small town right smack in the middle of Hokkaido, (near Furano) where, in the winter, the primary form of exercise is shoveling the snow away from in front of my garage so I can get my Prius out and bust through the snow to go skiing. I actually live in the town with the record lowest temps in Japan for the past few years. I love it! The Prius, however, sips quite a bit more gas than in the warmer months. Anyway, I really like that penguin snacking his pal into the icey water. Where'd that pic come from? Or how do I make one of my own? Classic!
After being transfixed by it for hours, I got to say the wing slap is definately good original homemade animation. The penguin really just stepped through the ice.
I'm beginning to question whether the slapping penguin is actually there or not. The neck seems a little too thin and the shadow seems too thin compared to the walking one and the ones in the upper left. Whoever dreamed that up and made it deserves a medal.
It's available at a few sites that carry a lot of avatars. There's another version, where one penguin TRIPS the other. But you can simply copy maggie's with your browser's "edit" function and paste it into a folder somewhere---or even on your desktop.
I'd like to see a larger version of it. I'd also like to learn how to make animated gif's. Can Photshop do it?
That one can be downloaded here ---> penguin trips penguin Pretty funny but not as funny as the slap, IMHO.