Are penguins naughty? If you ask the National Aquarium of New Zealand, they'll tell you that penguins can indeed be very naughty. From stealing each other’s fish to pushing one another off the pier, they are straight up out of control.
This aquarium decided their ‘crimes’ were too heinous not to share, and so they shame their beloved penguins monthly on Facebook. The penguins do not care one bit, they are still going hog wild – and the Internet is loving it.
Featured next to each ‘Naughty Penguin of the Month’ is a ‘Good Penguin of the Month.’ The reasons why the good ones are “good” are quite funny too.
These naughty penguins are hilarious. Here are some of their latest crimes.
Image credits: National Aquarium of New Zealand
August 2019
Mr. Mac -Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Mr Mac takes the cake (or should we say fish) this month! Can you believe he snatched a fish right out of his girlfriend Lulu’s mouth? Taking food from an almost blind penguin – how could you Mr Mac!”
Dora – Good Penguin of the Month
“Dora was such a trooper at our regular health checks this month. She waddled straight over to the scales and, with a little helping hand and no fuss at all, popped up to be weighed. If only everybody was as compliant on weigh day as Dora!”
April 2019
Martin – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Martin is new to our Penguin Cove (rescued after a predator attack). While he was in our rehabilitation centre he was a bit of a grump (understandably). He’s settled in well, however has become a bit of Casanova – he started to muscle in on Lulu (Mr Mac’s girlfriend) and Draco (Timmy’s girlfriend). Timmy promptly put him in his place, Mr Mac is taking it all in his waddle. We’ve got some tough boys at Penguin Cove so keep your flippers to yourself Martin!”
Dora – Good Penguin of the Month
“Dora used to be a bit of princess, demanding a guided escort to the feeding station. She’s now making a real effort, sauntering her own way over. Preferring to dine alone, she waits until the other penguins are done so she gets her keeper’s full attention.”
March 2019
Dave – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“NAUGHTY (kind of!): Because Dave has been partially hand raised, he’s really close to humans and as part of penguin relationship building they like to preen each other. We had one recent gentleman who took part in a Penguin Encounter and had the privilege of Dave preening him. Dave’s very young and doesn’t know his own strength so a few hairs were tugged at on his legs – but our guest thought this was pretty special.”
Burny – Good Penguin of the Month
“Before moulting Burny had been spending a lot of time in her burrow. Now with some lovely new feathers, she’s been taking care of them really well!! She’s spending all day in the water and making a conscious effort to preen and keep them in good condition. Nice work Burny.”
February 2019 – we’ve got a mother/daughter duo!
Lulu – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Our Lulu has been extra snappy over the last few weeks at feeding time. She obviously needs to learn some good habits off her daughter Pepper!”
Pepper – Good Penguin of the Month
“She’s been so good at encouraging her boyfriend Tux to go swimming. Tux can be a bit lazy! Good on you Pepper”
December 2018
Mo -Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Hiding in the bushes on weighing day”
Captain – Good Penguin of the Month
“Finally standing up for himself against Tux”
June 2019
Mo – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Mo has been a lay-about over the last few weeks! Has sleep ins, and doesn’t get out of bed until feeding time. Penguins normally swim during daylight hours, usually getting up at sunrise. But not our Mo – he refuses to rise before 9.30am, then waddles across to get his food and tries going back to bed. Mo needs to be mindful of his tardy behaviour.”
Timmy – Good Penguin of the Month
“Timmy’s actually behaving at feeding time! Yes, we were impressed too. He’s not being his usual pushy self and has even restrained himself from flicking sand at the keepers! Basically, he’s been awarded good penguin this month because he hasn’t been naughty LOL! Nice one Timmy.”
May 2019
Dave – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Dave just can’t get it together and stay off the naughty list! We take great pride in keeping Penguin Cove clean and tidy. However for Dave this is an opportunity to cause mischief, and as cute as he is, it tends to make this job tricky for our keepers. We’re going to see if we can get some video evidence of him in action so watch this space!”
Betty – Good Penguin of the Month
“Our Betty is one of our sweetest penguins and is such a joy! She never lets the hustle and bustle of the other penguins get to her. She goes about her day without putting a flipper wrong. Maybe she’s starting to be a good influence on her boyfriend Mo – who hasn’t been on the naughty list for some time!”
January 2019
Flip – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Flip abandoned her boyfriend and their baby for an entire week!!!!!”
Mr Mac – Good Penguin of the Month
“Mr Mac ate during a public encounter (normally snobs them)”
July 2019
Tux – Naughty Penguin of the Month
“Tux has been a right bully lately and has been chasing other penguins around at the feeding station. It’s breeding season, and as his burrow is near the feeding station he’s claimed this area as his territory as well, talk about attitude! Tux does have occasional bullying tendencies and has been in trouble before for pushing Timmy off the pier. He’s a handsome dude, but that’s no excuse – we’ll need to keep an eye on him.”
Elmo – Good Penguin of the Month
Elmo, our oldest resident, has been waddling out of her burrow to eat. This is a fantastic effort as we usually provide her with room service. She’s missing a flipper (after getting caught in fishing line when in the wild), is rather elderly at 19 years old (a penguins life span in the wild is about 10 years old) and she has cataracts. We love you Elmo.”
COMMENTS