We all know that penguins are among the cutest bird species. No one can possibly resist the charm of these flightless birds. But don’t let their innocent appearances fool you. Just like any other birds, penguins can be jerks too. The penguins’ mischief is nothing new to the employees of the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Penguins at the aquarium have been misbehaving so the only thing left for them to do is to shame them online. Each month, employees select their top picks for the penguin of the month. One good and one naughty. And they blatantly expose the deeds of these waterbirds on their Facebook page. While the good ones receive much of the praises, it’s often the naughty ones and their offenses that leave people cracking up.
Even so, it seems like these penguins have no plans of changing for the better. Nevertheless, this doesn’t change our fondness towards them. They’re still our favorite fluffy friends.
Here’s a list of these penguins’ good and naughty deeds that are equally cute and hilarious.
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER”
Naughty Penguin: Burny
“Burny can be a bit lazy but we never thought she’d take it this far. She hangs out at her friend Draco’s place a bit, so perhaps they had a conversation and agreed that Draco’s burrow was the best place for her egg. Maybe she’s just not the maternal type?”
Good Penguin: Draco
“What a great friend Draco is to Burny, kindly adopting her egg as she knows that Burny’s a bit lazy and could use a helping flipper.”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – AUGUST”
Good Penguin: Dora
“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!”
Naughty Penguin: Mr Mac
“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!”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – JULY”
Good Penguin: Elmo
“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 <3 you Elmo.”
Naughty penguin: Tux
“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.”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – JUNE”
Naughty Penguin – Mo
“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.”
Good Penguin – Timmy
“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.”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – MAY”
Naughty Penguin – Dave
“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!”
Good Penguin – Betty
“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!”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – APRIL”
Naughty Penguin – Martin
“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!”
Good Penguin – Dora
“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.”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – MARCH”
Naughty Penguin (kind of!) – Dave
“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.”
Good Penguin -Burny
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.”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – FEBRUARY”
It’s a mother/daughter duo this month!
Good Penguin of the Month – Pepper
She’s been so good at encouraging her boyfriend Tux to go swimming. Tux can be a bit lazy! Good on you Pepper ?Naughty Penguin of the Month – Lulu
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!”
“PENGUIN OF THE MONTH – JANUARY”
Naughty Penguin – Flip
“Flip abandoned her boyfriend and their baby for an entire week!!!!!”
Good Penguin – Mr Mac
“Mr Mac ate during a public encounter ( normally snobs them)”
