By himself, without the help of those who were anxiously waiting for him and with all the impetus that his small beak allowed him, Alex broke his egg a little over a month ago and today he has Mexico with a smile from ear to ear.
Just at the moment when Mexicans needed some good news, the first gentoo penguin born in the country took little steps in front of the press that waited for him on Wednesday with their cameras in hand inside the Inbursa Aquarium. The rest of the enthusiasts who want to meet him will have to wait due to the restrictions imposed in the capital after an increase in infections in the midst of the new coronavirus pandemic, but Alex is already waiting for them by fluttering around multicolored balls inside the habitat that his caregivers they created for him.
Achieving the reproduction of a penguin like Álex is a challenge, but in this case it was achieved thanks to years of hard work, Patricia Velázquez, the doctor in charge of the aquarium’s penguin area, told The Associated Press. Since the first specimens of the species arrived at the end of 2014, she and the other five members of the team have been concerned with creating the ideal conditions to achieve their reproduction, such as temperature, light and food.
In Mexico City, the sunlight usually says goodbye to the windows between six and seven in the afternoon, but Alex doesn’t say goodbye for more than an hour a day, when they seek the night for him. Patricia explains that this is because she and her team do their best to reproduce the “photoperiod” that this baby penguin requires to develop properly. His diet is not accidental either: Alex’s palate is demanding and he only eats fish that are brought to him from Canada.
The process for the birth of a penguin begins with the formation of nests and pairs, which in this case happened in 2019, according to Patricia. “In 2019 we had the first egg laying, but none were fertile, and in 2020 we had the first hatching of a chick,” he adds. “He started to chop the egg, it came out completely alone. If we had seen a problem, we would have intervened as a team to help the team ”. Now Alex is her pride and both she and her companions speak with pleasure about him.
A failure in the temperature of the space of a penguin in an aquarium could cause illness and even death, but so far Álex “has grown perfectly”, says Patricia. Both his father and mother, Beto and Mari, have received him well. “They have done an excellent job as parents,” adds the expert. “We have not had to intervene much. They take care of it too much since it was in the egg, to incubate it, and until now it is a month old and a little bit.
The birth of Álex also represents joy for the experts because his species is threatened. Antonio Martínez, a biologist and Aquaristics regional manager, told the AP that the reproduction of these penguins plays an important role in their conservation, which is hanging by a thread due to the threat of climate change. This issue is important for the aquarium and “for five years it has had a conservation program where we have dedicated ourselves to reproducing ten species of different organisms, which includes two of amphibians, fish, reptiles, corals, jellyfish among others”, explains Antonio.
Plans for Álex in the future have not been fully defined, but so far it is planned that the aquarium will continue to be the space for him. In wildlife these specimens usually live from 15 to 20 years, but in human care they can live up to 40: another good news for future visitors to Álex, who once the pandemic is over, he will receive with open fins.
–
